The Recovery

I know, I know. My posts have been somewhat lacking lately. I took to posting short blurbs about pictures because I have been keeping very busy this week. Ammon's parents arrived at our house on Saturday morning, and since then we have been in a whirlwind of activity, trying to fit in all the things that we had planned to do while they were here. On Sunday, I spoke in Sacrament meeting and taught my primary lesson, after which we went home and enjoyed popcorn and ice cream for our regular Sunday night dinner. On Monday, Mary and Russ stayed busy running errands in Logan, while the kids and I also stayed busy doing a little bit of shopping, and even meeting Ammon for lunch. For family home evening we all went miniature golfing, and played a rowdy game of Pit after the kids went to bed. We didn't even wake the children up, which I view as a serious accomplishment. On Tuesday, we got a lot of sewing done, and finished a Christmas project for a member of my family. Wednesday we all stayed busy separately again, the kids and I went to our regular playgroup and stayed busy around the house. Today is Thursday, and Mary and Ammon have tackled re-finishing the dining room table. In fact, as I write this Ammon is outside doing the final sand before the stain, and Mary and Russ have met some friends in town for lunch. Tonight we plan to have a pizza and movie night, and tomorrow the plan is to take a picnic to a park somewhere and spend a good portion of the day outdoors. It's been really great having people around to do things with, and we are looking forward to the next week and a half of more companionship before Mary and Russ leave again until mid-winter!

Bike Safety

Thought you guys might enjoy this picture. Apparently, Jeremy is concerned about the fact that he doesn't yet possess a bike helmet, so he liberated his father of his motorcycle helmet. Jeremy could barely keep his head up, the helmet is so heavy! Luckily my neighbor had her camera, so we could capture the moment for posterity.

Limbo!

First you spread your limbo feet
Then you move to limbo beat
Limbo ankolimbonee,
Bend back like a limbo tree
Jack be limbo, Jack be quick
Jack go unda limbo stick
All around the limbo clock
Hey, let's do the limbo rock!

Making the Bed

Well, the time has finally arrived. Mary and Russ are arriving early tomorrow morning (in time for breakfast, even!). We weren't going to tell Jeremy that they were coming until the last minute in order to preserve the surprise, but yesterday when we started rearranging furniture to make a guest room, Jeremy got really upset. He's one of those children that doesn't handle change well, and moving his little brother, along with all the accompanying toys, was unnerving him more than a little bit. In an effort to help him understand the need for all the upheaval, I told him early about the impending arrivals. Last night when we finally made it home from my mom's with the borrowed queen bed and the borrowed bedding, Jeremy was so excited that Grandpa and Grandma Fellows were coming that he insisted on making the bed himself. He methodically unfolded the blanket, and through sheer force and perseverance managed to pull it on to the bed and straighten out all of the wrinkles. If you've never seen a three year old try to make a queen size bed, you really ought to take the next opportunity. It made me tired just watching him! He kept running from side to side, and then getting on top and pulling the covers up. He painstakingly, bit by bit, managed to pull the blanket all the way to the head of the bed. He actually did a great job! Unfortunately, I had to pull them off this morning and put on the sheets, but I managed to do it when he wasn't around so that he didn't see me disturb his masterpiece.

Girls Night Out

On Saturday I went out with my good friends Emily and Alisha for my birthday, and for a much needed respite from men. Emily and I left early in the afternoon and met Alisha in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, where we took in the 4:30 showing of the new movie. Emily had warned us that it was a real tear jerker, but I have to admit, I was a little skeptical. That is, until the first five minutes of the movie had me sobbing like a baby! Anyway, after that wonderfully uplifting experience, we went upstairs and got on the waiting list for a table at the very elegant Garden Restaurant on the 10th floor of the building. It had wonderful views of the city, and a lovely setting. The food was wonderful as well, I enjoyed the lamb chops, while Alisha had Chicken Marinara, and Emily had the Roasted Turkey Breast. We then treated ourselves to dessert, and I have to say, my free slice of cinnamon chocolate cake was divine! After dinner, we walked over to pick up Emily's car and spent an hour and a half wandering around the Gateway mall. None of us found anything we couldn't live without (other than the $300 Love Sac I wanted) but we had a great time shopping together, nonetheless. In fact, aside from my splitting migraine on the way home, I'd have to say it was a perfect evening! Hopefully we'll be able to do it again at least once more before Alisha has this baby, and (hopefully) Emily and I have babies sometimes next year!

Grandma and Granpda

Ammon's parents will be here in a week, and we are so looking forward to the company!! We have planned lots of activities, including some not so fun organizing, furniture refinishing, and some mending. We're going to can peaches and hopefully enjoy at least a couple of nights of kid-free entertainment. I am SO looking forward to having some other adults around the house to talk to and spend time with. Since they moved earlier this year, we have really missed having them around all the time. Anyway, I just didn't want to get behind again, so since I have spent all day cleaning and organizing to get ready for their arrival, I thought I'd write something about that!

Graduation

Yea!! We officially finished swim lessons today. I haven't been so relieved at the passage of an era in a long time. As we were getting ready today, I couldn't help but look forward to tomorrow, when I won't have to drive into Logan at all, unless I really want to! We did enjoy our last lesson, however. Jeremy has decided in the last couple of days that going underwater is a good thing, and yes, we have actually conquered the bathtub battle. Kadon is getting more and more comfortable with that water, even to the point that he doesn't want me to hold him up in the deep pool, he continually tries to kick away from me and go out on his own. I am able to appease him only by letting him float on his stomach with minimal support from me. He looks so serene and peaceful when he's doing it, that I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to do this with him this summer!! As much as I have complained about the inconvenience of the frequent lessons, I am truly an addict now. I'm already planning next year, and trying to decide whether Kadon will be old enough and big enough to be in level one, or if we are all going to repeat the classes that we were in this year. Jeremy, not surprisingly, was not passed from Level one to Level two. He made great strides during his two weeks, but he still has a lot of trouble floating on his stomach, and being able to get out of a horizontal position in the water to a standing position without assistance. They gave us a checklist at the end of lessons today, so at least I have a guideline of what I can work on for next year. Quite frankly, however, I'm satisfied that he finally had a good time, and that he is able to put his face in the water with no hesitation. The first time I saw him flop down face first in the pool I thought he was drowning, but the proud smile on his face when he got up made the whole two weeks worth it! Another worthwhile experience was had today for Kadon and I. One of the first things that our teacher tries to get the babies to do is learn how to blow bubbles underwater, as it is one of the most important things in learning how to swim. Of the seven children in our class, only two were able or willing to consistently do it, and my goal for the two weeks was to be able to add Kadon to that number. I had given up all hope today, and was about to say so to one of the other parents, when much to my surprise, Kadon stuck his face in the water with no hesitation at all, and blew a long stream of bubbles. I was so excited for him, and made such a fuss over him, that he did it several more times just to merit my happy response. I am so proud of both of my children for overcoming their obstacles to enjoying the water, and am excited for next year when we can all do it again!

Thunderstorm

Last night we had a horrible thunderstorm. Ammon and I had turned out the lights kind of late, not settling down until about 11 o'clock. Ammon, as usual, was out quickly, and I followed suit soon after. However, at about 1 o'clock in the morning, I was awoken by these terrific flashes of light in our bedroom. Our bedroom window is right above our bed, serving as our headboard almost, and when I looked up to see what all the light was, I witnessed some of the most fantastic lightening I have ever seen!! I tried valiantly to go back to sleep, as I knew my children would be up bright and early regardless of my nocturnal awakening, but the light kept flashing, and the thunder kept rolling. The combined two made me terrible uneasy. You see, Ammon likes to tease me because I am terribly frightened of thunder. I don't like the large crashes, and am especially unsettled by the large crashes that seem to shake your whole house off the foundations. Last night, however, I was at least frightened by the right thing. Something about the way the lightening arced across the sky left me feeling more than vaguely disturbed. I even managed to wake Ammon up so that he could comfort me, and he promptly rolled over, settled under the comforter, and told me to go back to sleep. Honestly!! Who could sleep through a storm like that?!?! Anyway, shortly after the thunder started, the rain began. I got up and went throughout the house shutting windows, and sat in front of the large window in our living room for several minutes, entirely certain that our little town would soon be struck from the planet. I finally returned to bed about 10 minutes later, and resolutely turned away from the window and draped the blankets partially over my eyes to block the flashes of lightening. I tried valiantly to ignore the thunder, and I finally managed to drift off again, and slept peacefully until Kadon started calling for me at 7:15 this morning.

P.S. I thought I should add that this is a picture that I found on the internet. I had somebody else ask me how I got that cool shot, so I didn't want to cause any confusion!

County Fair Part 2

We greatly enjoyed the county fair on Saturday night. We met my parents there, and had a lot of fun wandering around, visiting the booths, and eating some wonderful food. My parents got some kabobs that they said were so-so, but the caramel apple that I enjoyed on our way out was fantastic!! Definitely not in the diet, but wonderful nonetheless. We even found the new electronic voting machine that they had on display, and my dad spent several minutes questioning the poor poll workers about every minute detail about the machines. How they work, how the memory works, what the different displayed mean. He even asked about what would happen if the power went out during an election! It was really funny, I've always known that my dad is very detail-oriented, it was just amusing to see his idiosyncrasies out in full force. Anyway, a good time was had by all, and I have posted a few of the highlights here. Enjoy!

Jeremy Rides

I convinced Jeremy to ride the dinosaur ride with an adorable little girl named Faith. Neither Faith's parents or myself wanted to ride the ride, so we were very happy to be able to convince them to go together. Jeremy thought Faith was very pretty, and enjoyed talking to her. In fact, Ammon swears the as the ride was slowing down, he saw Jeremy attempt to give Faith a big kiss on the cheeck!! That's my boy...

Fair Games

With the help of grandpa's wallet, both of my boys were able to play the fair games. Kadon played a game (with grandpa's help) where he scooped up rubber duckies from a pool, and when he got three duckies with the same letter on the bottom, he got a corresponding prize. He picked out a stuffed yellow duck. Jeremy chose to ply a dart game. I was very apprehensive in the beginning that he would be able to throw the darts correctly, but with a little bit of coaching from his dad, he learned to hold the dart like a pencil and throw it like a baseball. He also won a small prize, and he chose the cow. They both had a lot of fun.

Cache County Fair

Ah, Summer. Nothing says summer to me like the Cache County Fair. The smell of kettle corn, cotton candy, and various barnyard animals in the air. The sound of children screaming on the carnival rides, and the sight of all your friends, neighbors, and family out in force, united in celebrating our country and rural heritage. When I was a little girl, I can remember my older sister and my cousins entering different craft items in the fair. I remember my sister baking a pie that looked so delicious, it was physically painful to watch it be carted off to the fairgrounds for judging. I recall as a teenager attending the fair with my mother, a special time just for us girls, that we could bond and share common interests. I remember vividly the year I got my braces off, and I wanted nothing more than a caramel apple from the county fair, as I had been denied that treat for the past two years. My mother dutifully bought me a caramel apple, popcorn, corn on the cob, and almost anything else I could imagine enjoying sans-braces. In fact, I think that was the best caramel apple I have had since then. Tonight Ammon and I are attending the fair with our children and my parents. While I know that they won't get the same experience from it that I will, I am still grateful for the opportunity to share it with them. My, how times have changed. In years gone by, my father wouldn't have been caught dead or otherwise at the county fair. This year, he informed my mother that if Ammon and 'his boys' and he calls them, are coming, then by darn, he is coming too. It warms my heart to think of the people closest to me sharing an evening in this manner. I have occasionally bemoaned the fact that we are living in the same town that I grew up. I tire of the same sights, the same people, the same experiences for almost 25 years. However, on days like today, I find comfort in the familiar, and am grateful for the chance to be safe, warm, and loved.

Splashing Around

Today we surpassed the halfway point in our swimming lessons. I am happy to report that Jeremy has greatly improved in his water abilities, he has been listening to his teacher, and participating in the various exercises. I have been so proud to see him! Kadon has also improved in the water, but I'm not convinced that it's a good thing in his case. You see, my 1 year old has never been shy around the water, and loves to play and even experiment putting his face in it. Having these swim lessons has only heightened his interest in the pool. Today he kept walking into the deep end, until the water was in his mouth, and if it waved at all, it came up over his nose. Most kids would be at least startled by this, but Kadon just coughs a little bit, and continues on his way. I think he's much more of a drowning risk than he ever was before these lessons! All in all, I've been really grateful for this opportunity to spend some time with my kids. I think Jeremy especially gets really bored just being home with me all day, so some structured time that is challenging to him, and he gets to spend time with another adult in charge is great for both of us, and I am always looking for excuses to play with Kadon! We look forward to next week, and also to next year, when Jeremy will hopefully be able to move up to the next level, and Kadon can start actually learning to swim, instead of just splashing!

Back Float

Learning to Stroke

Big Lazy Bum

Alright, I know I've been a slacker this week. Going to these lessons every morning, while not directly affecting blogging, has greatly affected my regular household chores, which means that the time I usually spend blogging throughout the day, I am now spending cleaning various objects (it never ends!). Thus, I haven't blogged as I normally do. Never fear, I only have one more week of swim lessons, and then I will return to normal. Oh, by the way, to anyone that is in the mood to send an extravagant gift of either money and or gift, my birthday is coming up next Saturday.

Swim Lessons

I started the kids on swim lessons this week. Jeremy has developed an almost overpowering fear of water when it rises above chest level, and I want him to be able to conquer that and be able to try new things like floating and kicking on his back. When I signed Jeremy up, I was unsure how I was going to handle Kadon at the pool for 30 minutes without letting him get in the water, but I was informed that they have a Mommy and Me class for babies 6 months to 3 years. With Kadon's typical joy and zest for life, he runs happily around on the sidewalk before the lessons start, and today, discovered that he almost fits inside the lockers outside the bathroom. In our class, we spend a lot of time playing a game that requires the children to blow bubbles under the water, stretching to reach a toy, and learning to float on their back. Kadon has been a trooper all the way through, even though the water in the deeper pool is considerably cooler than he would like it to be first thing in the morning!
Jeremy, on the other hand, has had a little bit of trouble with the lessons. The first thing that his teacher wanted him to do on the first day was dunk his head underwater, and this caused him to go into hysterics for the entire 30 minutes session. I left the pool with both my boys, frustrated and angry that I had wasted the money on lessons for both of them. However, once I had a chance to calm down and think rationally, I decided that learning to swim is an extremely important skill for Jeremy, so we had a long talk, set up a reward system for successful swim days, and I went out this morning before lessons and spent a little bit extra money on a nice pair of swim goggles and some silicone ear plugs to keep the water out of his two most vulnerable areas. Apparently most of the fear surrounding getting his head underwater is centered on getting water in his eyes and ears, which doesn't surprise me, as I have a lot of experience with this child in the bathtub. Today was a much more successful day, and Jeremy was much more willing to experiment and to listen to the things his teacher wanted him to do. I'm glad to think that maybe I didn't waste the money after all! Maybe by the end of the two weeks, we can even train Jeremy to let us wash his hair in the bathtub without a screaming fit!

Saturday Fish Fry

I am feeling slightly less bitter today, so I decided to repost the picture from yesterday. Ammon and I are heading to Macy's as soon as he gets out of the shower. Recently we discovered the secret to buying EXTREMELY discounted meats and fresh fish. We happened to be there on a Saturday night, trying to fill a particularly persistent trout craving when we discovered that, as a general rule, the supermarket drastically marks down all their perishable meat on Saturday, in order to get it sold before they close on Sunday. Since then, we make a point of making a Saturday night pilgrimage to Macey's to quell my need for good bargains. Happy hunting!

Bitter Ice Queen

Alright. I'm frustrated, I admit it. Earlier today, I felt bad that I hadn't posted in a while, so in an attempt to gain forgiveness from my readers, I wrote a long and winding dissertation about what I have been doing all week. I finally finished my novel and hit the bright orange 'publish post' button which is sitting so innocently at the bottom of my screen, when I was told that blogger was experiencing 'technical difficulties' and that I should attempt my post at a later date. Yup, that's right. My whole post was lost. Even the cute little picture I attached. So, I admit that I'm bitter, and in the overall spirit of my bitterness, I am not going to attempt to redo it. So there.