A day with the Girls... and Turbo :)

So yesterday was fun. It was the last day that I got to see my nepheice for a while. My dad was going to take my nephiece up to go off roading on his Rhino, but alas Miss Thang had hurt her back the night before and he didn't want her to get hurt worse. So he ended up taking Qwerty and Goober instead and the girls got to hang out... well, the girls and Turbo!


So my mom took us to get ice cream at Sub Zero (which I'd never been to before). It was really cool, the guy working there explained that when they used liquid nitrogen to freeze the ingredients he had to make sure it touched all of the ingredients or some of them would be warm instead of the general thought that it would be frozen hard in one spot and then get gradually warmer. We got to pick our own ingredients and add in whatever. Worker Man even showed us how if you drop the liquid nitrogen onto the counter top it beads up and rolls off, we could touch it and everything but it wouldn't get us wet, just really cold. The kids loved the evaporation that looked a lot like what dry ice creates! Very cool.

After he was done cooking the ice cream (cause technically that's what he did, the nitrogen was boiling after all and turning back into gas) we sat down and ate it. Yummmmmmy! I'm a big fan of ice cream.

(Turbo at the theater)

We headed over to the theater across the road and saw "Despicable Me" which was really cute! We saw it in 2D, but I'm sure if you went with kids that would keep the glasses on it would be amusing. There were a lot of parts made especially for 3D, like a roller coaster ride and a paddle ball type part.

We headed home (to my parents house) afterword and hung out waiting for the boys to get back.

The kids played, we had dinner, Jer showed up, we talked,... where are the boys? We called Grandpa's cell phone and didn't get an answer, mom left a message, we waited some more, the kids played some more, grandpa called...

Turns out that the Rhino broke down while they were out and they had to hike back to the truck. Thank goodness there were three of them cause Goober didn't make it all the way. Apparently they were out about two and a half miles and after a mile or so it was apparent he didn't have the stamina to make it all the way. So Goober and Qwerty sat down and waited while my dad went the rest of the way and got the truck to go get them and the broken down Rhino. Now they had over an hours drive to get back to my parents house...

And it was getting late, so Jer and I said "Goodbye" to Miss Thang (assuming we wouldn't be seeing her again because both her and Qwerty were supposed to be dropped off at their other grandparents house) and headed home so that we could get our other children in bed.

By ten pm Goober was dropped off and those of us that were still up said  our "goodbyes" to the nephiece.

I love those kids, and I love spending time with them. I know I keep saying this, but they are awesome!

Details

Okay, so trampolines can get you hurt.

I think most people understand that. The thing was, that Miss Thang didn't hurt herself falling off of the thing or doing the pogo-stick with her head... she got hurt when Qwerty went to "bounce" her high in the air. What kid hasn't done that on a trampoline? Heck I was the mother of all chickens and I did that all through my growing up years. And when I say the "mother of all chickens" I mean it. I have never broken a bone etc etc due to it. In fact I didn't even have the satisfaction of telling people I could do a front flip on the trampoline (which my parents bought when I was seven) because I was freaked out that I would land on my head and bust my neck.

Anyhow, back to Miss Thang.

I didn't see what happened. All I knew was that I came outside and my kids were being demanding, Missy asked where Nepheice were and I looked over at the trampoline and saw Miss Thang laying on it. I thought I heard something but couldn't tell if it was crying or laughing or fake crying or what really. I figured Miss Thang and Qwerty were playing. Until Qwerty ran over and told me Miss Thang was hurt.

At which point I of course ran toward the trampoline to make sure she was breathing etc. She said her back hurt, that she had heard a pop, and that the pain seemed to be getting worse. I told Qwerty to run and get Gpa J, who then did his best to figure out how bad the injury was and proceeded to call their parents.

It's really hard to tell those kinds of things when you aren't around someone enough to know how they handle pain, when you don't know their different cries. We only see Qwerty and Miss Thang once a year or so due to them living out of state, and usually it's only for a day or two. I always miss them before they even leave and Jer rarely gets any time with them because work requires two weeks advanced notice to get days off. I really hope they don't think that we don't care about them enough to be willing to spend the time with them...

So back to what happened... My dad was able to get a hold of their dad, Whatshisbucket (who is in school to become a Physical Therapist, way cool, and way hard I'm sure! He graduates next year I think. I don't know him very well anymore but I hope to celebrate his graduation when it happens if he would be up for that. Who knows, I think he still may think of me as the obnoxious kid I was when he married my sister! Ha! Hell, distance and history really can choke on a gourd for all I care...) Anyhow, Whatshisbucket decided that we should get her in to be looked at ASAP. So dad --carefully, and at the suggestion of his EMT neighbor-- slid Miss Thang onto a piece of plywood and we loaded her into the back of my van (Yay! for Mommy-vans and seats that fold down so that the back area is flat!)

I did my best to avoid bumps and take turns slowly and we (My dad, me, and Qwerty) took her into town to get to the nearest ER. We found Jer waiting in the parking lot -- due to a phone message I had left -- and once the staff had safely gotten Miss Thang into the hospital Jer and I left to go tend to our own children, leaving Jer's car for them to get around with.

Meanwhile back at the hospital they did X-rays and an MRI. The X-ray didn't catch anything but the MRI found a small hairline fracture in one of her upper vertebra. They prescribed her some meds for pain etc and told her she could go home four hours after she arrived. Gotta love ER's timetables, eh?

I'm really glad she wasn't injured worse! It could have been much worse... though I'm sad that she was injured at all! I hope that she is careful with herself the rest of her trip here and that she doesn't try to go four wheeling or anything that might cause her more problems and I hope the Nephiece has a blast the rest of their time away from home even if that does include being cautious :)

(I realized today that Missy and Miss Thang have the same age difference as Me and Winders)

And Then...

Today was pretty awesome. Well, 'cept the end... ummm kinda.

This morning my kids went to their first swim lesson and then we went boating with my parents and my nephiece (which is to say, my niece and nephew, Miss Thang and Qwerty). They are seriously two of my favorite kids in the whole world!!

My kids had a blast swimming and riding on the boat and tubing. Yes, my nephiece took turns with my kids helping them on the tube :) They were Awe-some!

We ate lunch on the boat and generally had fun until the wind started to kick up...

After a long day of water fun we headed home and nepheice headed out to jump on the trampoline with a sprinkler under it for a while until my kidlets decided to have fun with the garden hose.

At which point, Miss Thang broke her back.

No kidding, cracked a vertebrae. I count our lucky stars... cause honestly, it could have been much, MUCH worse.

Relationships

I think I expect too much out of life sometimes. Mostly out of relationships. I can only think of maybe three relationships in my life that I'm satisfied with, and when I say satified I mean I don't think they could be better and if they do get better I would be pleasantly surprised.

My number one relationship is with Jer. Which is as it should be. I truly do think that we are two sides of the same coin. We rarely argue, and when we do it's usually because something is frustrating one or the other of us that has little to do with the person we are arguing with. ie I may be frustrated with the kids one day and Jer comes home and says something that usually wouldn't bug me, but because I'm already frustrated I let it bug me and off we go from there. He's an awesome dad and a wonderful husband. I could go on and on, but I won't cause that isn't what this post is about! :) The point is, our relationship is awesome and I don't think I could have found anyone who could truly "get" me as much as he does! Relationship with my hubby? A++

The second one is my relationship with my parents. Mom and I exercise together most mornings and often times my parents will drop by my house to see the kids and visit... usually about once every two weeks or so. My dad is more quiet and he works so getting together with him is a little harder simply because his schedule is a little less adjustable, but when I do get a chance to "hang out" with him I always enjoy it and he usually gets my mind running about one thing or another that I hadn't thought of before. Relationship with my parents? A++

The third relationship that I have that I'm quit satisfied with is that of my BFF Erika. I've known her forever and honestly she is probably closer to me than my own siblings. This is probably due to the rocks and roadblocks that have occurred within my relationships with my sisters. I would love to be close to them and I really try not to hold grudges, but past hurts sometimes still hurt. Erika and I can go for almost any length of time without talking and just pick up the phone and call, no reason, just to chit chat... and it's like we just talked last week... 'cept there's more things that have happened so therefore more things to talk about! We definitely see differently on a ton of things, but it makes for great conversations and not a dull moment :) And her family is way cute and she married a good guy... so what's not to love!? Relationship with Erika? A++

Besides that, like I said earlier, I think my expectations are too high. I hear about family that are waaaaay close. Sisters and bothers that talk to each other daily or cousins that hang out with each other all the time, and quiet frankly I'm jealous. I wish I had those too. But maybe those are the only close relationships that those people have. Maybe most people only have 2 or 3 A++ relationships? I'm not sure really. Would you say that is true?

I look around me and think "Man, wouldn't it be nice if ... " I was closer to my siblings, or I had a cousin I could talk to, or even an aunt. A grandparent? Someone who lives nearby? I get lonely to think there are so few people who really "get" me. Am I really so hard to "get"? Or do I unknowingly shut people out? I really don't try to.

Admittedly I know I rub some people the wrong way. If people are too much "black/white" or "right/wrong" thinkers I have a hard time with them. I try not to, but my world is full of grays... so it seems that they always want to lump me into one extreme or another, and I don't fit well in either group, and get irritated when people try to force me into one. Then again tolerance is something that I find indispensable.

Or maybe I'm just being too self analyzing... how many close relationships do you have?

Air Show

So, this morning I slept in (Thanks Jer!) and soon after I got myself out of bed - for fear that I would stay there all day - the phone rang.

Jer's mom was on the other end wondering if we wanted to go to the air show! Why, yes, of course we would like to go! The reason we hadn't planned on it was due to financial restraints... we can't have everything we want after all and unfortunately food for dinner is highly recommended on the priority list!

So we got ready and headed out, parking near the universities satellite campus and taking the shuttle into the airport. The kids were kinda of grumpy about waiting in line for the shuttle, which concerned me about the rest of the day.... If they were already grumpy, what might that indicate?

Especially when we were headed to a place with lots of walking and waiting? But they were actually pretty good considering that the lines for food were over an hour long and the sun was blazing!

They had their moments of grumpiness, namely when I told them they couldn't go into the bounce houses because the dude insisted on cash... sorry dude, but when I only had an hour from the time I found out were were going to the time I got here, that means no cash for YOU!

Thankfully I was able to distract the kids with cool helicopters and military vehicles that they could actually climb up and sit in!

Then of course there were the stunts and other performances!

The husband and wife, stunt pilot and wing walker :) Missy insisted after that they she was going to be a pilot and "drive planes"! I have to say, if she does do that I would be very proud, but worried like I should be as her mother :)

Then there was the Mustang and MAN was the plane maneuverable! The guy would tumble and turn and it looked like it reacted on the drop of a dime. So cool, if I became a pilot... that would be a plane I would want to fly!

 After all of that was the main attraction... the Marines Blue Angels! MMMMmmmmm Yum. Ya, I don't even have the words to describe how talented those pilots are. So glad that those guys are willing to serve their country... and thankful for their families as well!

How do I express how glad I am that we have men and women that are willing and able to do all that they do to help me and my family to feel safer? God bless them.

I admit it, I'm obnoxious.

I'm one of THOSE people. You know the ones. The ones that make everyone else look bad, or the ones that end up in awkward situations due to their ailment.

That's right.

I'm incessantly and almost chronically early to just about everything. If I planning on meeting a friend for lunch:15 minutes, school meeting:5 minutes, doctors appointment:15 minutes. For anything I need a babysitter for I ask the sitter to be at my house a half hour early (in case they are running late or we get talking before I leave), and if it's a BBQ at a friends house I'm right on time (which most people know is about a half hour early). I plan with the knowledge of about how long it takes to get me and whomever is with me out the door and to the place we are going to with time to spare.

This bugs some people, but most of the people it bugs are those that are chronically late.

Do you know why I'm always early? I really don't think that many people really understand it. It's mostly because I'm trying to be considerate to those that are waiting on me. I consider it a sign of respect. If I'm early to a friends house I usually offer to help with whatever is going on. But I know that not everyone functions this way, in fact, most people don't and I usually don't take it offensively. Especially if I know the person well.

It's when I don't know the person well or I don't see or hear from them often that it becomes a problem.

Really, the same thing goes for people returning my phone calls. I don't really care if they call back or not when I call and leave a message saying something like "Hi, it's just me, just calling to pester you, nothing amazing. You can call me back or not, whatever. Bye". It's when I leave a message like that multiple times and I am never able to get a hold of them that it becomes a problem. I start to think that they really could give a flying goats fart about me or my life when people don't call back.

Or in fact when it goes for a long, long time without them ever calling me. I estimate that I can handle about a 10:1 ratio. I call 10 times, after that I start to think I shouldn't call anymore.

I like to talk. Anyone that knows me knows that I have a high number of words I need to get out a day. Get me going and I could probably talk all day as long as I can get someone to talk back to me! In fact, I call several people a day just to "chit-chat" because, honestly, I need to talk more than other people do. Or... at least that is the way that I figure it. Otherwise more people would be calling me than the other way around... right? Either that or people really don't care for me, but I don't think that is the case. One person I never want to be though, is that person that you say "I have to go" to and they just keep on going... like forever... no fail, you cannot get off the phone with them without feeling like you are being rude. I try really hard not to be that person who you dread getting calls from because you know the rest of your day will go to pot no matter what you do if you even pick up the darn thing when they ring.

Anyhow... ya, I think where I was going with this is that I don't do these things to be annoying. If anything I do them to be just the opposite.

Loud Noises

These guys have been flying over all day long, probably just practicing for this weekend.

The kids are enjoying it, I'm not sure yet if we will take them to the air show... $20 per adult is a little steep, but who knows. With how cool my kids think they are, we might.

I think it's goody that they are evacuating a whole neighborhood for 2 days for it and closing the interstate near here as well. Something about safety, but if it's a safety issue... why are they allowing thousands of people to stand below? hmmm....

Anyhow, I remember going to a Blue Angels Air Show when I was a kid and that I loved it. I don't remember a whole lot about it though... 'cept that there were a LOAD of people there.

We may go, we may not...meh.

Family Photos!

So as I've mentioned previously we had family photos taken by my good friend Loni. The day after we had them taken she called me all worried about the fact that her "shutter speed" was set to low and that they weren't as clear as she wanted them to be. I told her, "what's the worst that could happen? The worst is we take them over again, I'm not worried about it!"

Well, I have no idea why she was worried. I think they turn out awesome!

Just a snippet

Okay, so lately I have a lot going on in this brain of mine, even though it may seem like I'm a bit quiet. The thing is, I don't really know what to type here.

First off, I really don't want to offend people with my religious issues. Secondly, I really don't want to cause other people to have the same issues. It's really hard to have your whole world view turned upside down and have very few people you feel you can talk to honestly about it. I get really tired of editing myself so that people don't think I'm attacking their religion. I'm not attacking it, I'm struggling with how people can truly think that not asking questions is what God would want.

As my status update on Facebook this morning said : "gets rather tired of people questioning my faith in God, I have faith in God, I do not, however, have faith in man when he claims to do things in God's name. Things that are harmful to others..."

I think that one of my friends said it right when he said that the same people who insist on unquestioning loyalty are the same ones who would  "probably mock Muslims for blindingly believing their Mullahs, or those who follow Jim Jones. Blind obedience only for *our* religious leaders, eh?"

People in general seem to think that the rules should apply for everyone except themselves of course.

I have other things that I would like to talk about as well, but honestly the circumstances are too specific to the situation and the people involved for me to feel good about going into much detail for fear of revealing too much. Suffice it to say, I really hate it when people are passive aggressive and I hate it even more when they involve children in it all. Sad thing is, most people who are passive aggressive don't realize that they are doing it until someone calls them on it. And honestly, calling someone on it takes some real guts. Then one of two things happen, either a) they apologize and realize what they did - or at least that it could be taken offensively, or b) they get really pissed off and become worse. Rarely are they willing to talk it through.

I am worried about my kids future, not because I think the world is a bad place, but more because I think that power hungry people (ie politicians) are selling them short and jeopardizing the possibility of them being able to grow up and feel content with the country that they live in. People who want power really shouldn't be in any position of power. Most people don't want to hear about those concerns too much though... mainly because they are depressing and because I can't see any real solution to them.

This summer is going alright though... the weather has been nice, not too hot and not too rainy. Perfect for the kids to go outside and play in the sprinklers, but not melt after they come inside! There is so much that I want to do with my kids this summer, but it seems that even though we made the same amount of money last year... this year it doesn't seem to stretch as far, which really sucks.

I'm aware that this post may seem depressing, honestly I'm not depressed though. I'm more melancholy than anything, kind of resigned to the fact that right now, this is how things are, and that not much is going to change any time soon. Well, at least I hope nothing changes for the worse... I hope for the best but try to be emotionally prepared for the worst. Life isn't bad right now by any means! I'm pretty content with things, really. I just wish sometimes I could find a snippet of that ideal world that I have floating around in my head. You know, the place where everything works as it should, people have what they need, and everyone not only has the ability to be compassionate and empathetic... but uses it.

Oooooo lights....

So today I slacked off (I know, I know... I need to get a handle on this slacking off addiction I have going... I've determined after long -cough, cough- minutes of study that laziness breeds itself! Boy am I hosed!) and I went to my parents house for the day.

The kids adore my parents and my mom is the bomb and plays "hide-and-seek" with them over and over again (even though my kids always hide in the same places every time).

Today when I left to come home my dad gave each of my kids a little light that he manufactures for work. This light is cool, it changes color each time you turn it on and its -dundundun- waterproof. Which means that it's a little kids heaven! All the way home my kids begged for me to let them take a bath with their lights when they got home.

Turbo took the first one (hence the picture at the top of the entry, yup, that's Turbo in be bath with his light!) and each of my kids took their turns after that.

Ahhhhh how would life be if I could be entertained  by water and lights for hours?

Oh, wait... I still can... maybe that is why I never seem to have enough time!

Laughing so hard that I'm crying...

This blog absolutely has me in tears. Too funny! I like it Alot!

Okay....

Well, this week has been really weird.

Last weekend our family went camping with the family and when we came home on Sunday night Jer's feet were hurting from a gout flairup. So he then used FMLA and got a few more days off of work to recover... so he was home till yesterday.

Which was nice but really threw my week for a loop. Instead of getting normal things done, I was trying to get other things done.

First off there was airing out the sleeping bags from camping and setting up the tent to sweep it out and make sure it was dry. And of course there was the laundry I missed plus the added laundry that camping creates! So Mt. Washmore (stole that from Kar and Nat... it's just too good of a description girls!) started getting tackled almost as soon as we got home. It took till Wednesday to get the tent done due to crazy nutzo Idaho wind. Then the power went out a couple of times due to aforementioned wind, so... because the kiddos were going stir crazy we took them and went through the car wash with them.

Most of the time when we wash our cars we do it ourselves or go to Soapies where the car sits still and the things moves around it. The kids seemed to really like the moving car wash (well, okay... the older kids loved it, Turbo wasn't so sure and and seemed a bit worried, at one point he was yelling "Mom! Mom! Back up! It's going to hit me!" but after he realized that the window stopped it all it was good.) and actually it did a really good job cleaning the car... reminds me of the days when I was a teen and washed my car often, it has been a good year since our van was given a good scrub, but the camping trip guaranteed that the thing needed it desperately!

Last night we went and got family pictures taken, because the last time we had them taken was when Turbo was a month or so old and even then it was only because the extended family scheduled them! So I bit the bullet and decided we needed family pictures that we chose to do on our own... and since Jer was home anyways, why not see if Loni (one of my friends who is trying to get a photography website up and running) could do it last night. She is such a doll, she totally worked with us and even missed out on her bible study so that we could get it done! I'm sure the pictures will be awesome once they are done and am excited to see them. :)

Anyways, now that Jer is back at work and it's near the end of the week.... well, ya, getting back into gear is hard! I stayed up too late (Jer is a night owl after all) and haven't gone and worked out all week... Ya, need to get on that before I balloon back out!!! But I really am having a hard time talking myself into getting anything real done today or tomorrow. Maybe I'll call these two days my own little vacation and call it good till Monday... well, 'cept that I have to get to the grocery store or the world will implode!

I've found that I kinda work like this... well at least the graph at the top, the rest is great too, but doesn't apply that well to me since I'm okay at getting things done... cept cleaning.

Cleaning sucks.

Being lazy...

"So SUCK IT TREBECK!!!"

First Time Out...

In a really, really, long time!

Since last fall Jer and I have been discussing the fact that we really need to go camping with the kidlets more... now that Turbo is going to be 3 at the end of the summer it shouldn't be as big of an ordeal as with an infant (you know, the whole... Pack-N-Play,  bottles, baby back-packy thingy, etc etc)

Well, we still hadn't gone till this last weekend, and part of it was because we didn't have a clue where to go ...

Apparently my parents decided that they needed to prod us in the right direction! They invited us to go with them (can we say YAY for bathroom facilities and other adults whom the kidlets adore?!).

So, off we went!

This is the first time Jer and I have used our tent since we went and visited my sister for her graduation... ya, we're kind of pathetic... I know. :)

But we had a blast this time, due in large part to my mama and my papa!

Dad found the perfect spot to say in, that not only would fit their 5th wheel, but our tent and all the vehicles. PLUS it had a stream that the kids loved to jump over and play in AND we didn't have any traffic there besides ourselves running back and forth on the Rhino. :)

I think my kids were in shock due to not being allowed to watch any movies etc (I wouldn't let them, even though my parents did have a TV, DVD player, and a generator.... GOODNESS SAKES KIDS! We are OUTDOORS... and not just in the front yard! Go explore!)

They found sticks to swing around and asked repeatedly if any adult would go on a hike or take them on a ride in the Rhino. (which the adults didn't mind doing at all, that thing was fun!)

 (Gpa J and Missy at the top of the Mountain)

They picked flowers, and generally got themselves really dirty! They even had an incident with Jer where the Rhino tipped over, but alas... everyone was fine :)

There was even a deer that must have lived near our campsite, because we saw her often!

They even had Smores for the first time! (poor deprived children...)

Jer's foot started to hurt (darn gout, and me forgetting that shrimp triggers it... and dang-it everyone loved that meal!) So, now we are home, bathed, showered, and all but me in bed.

It was an awe-some weekend! Thanks to the 'rents!