A non-Halloween

Call it scandalous, we call it smart... we got out of trick-or-treating!  Neener-neener-neener!

Our kids had croup, so we didn't go to our friends' annual Halloween Party (that part Ryan and I were REALLY looking forward to!!! and totally bummed that we couldn't go because of sick kids.) but that didn't mean that I couldn't still have some fun.  :)

I got a sitter to watch the boys while Ryan was at work so I could go and support my younger brother and sister at their sporting events today.

Clay had District Swimming at the Reed Gym at ISU (where I used to work out in HS), and did really well for just starting swim team two months ago!  It must be in his blood. ...ahhhh...the memories! It was ridiculously hot in the bleachers...and cold on deck.  I had to change Kortlen's onesie half way through, he was soaking with sweat! 

Despite his great races, he didn't qualify for state this go around.  Good thing he's just a freshman.  I predict he'll qualify for the next three years.  He wasn't too far off the q-times! 

Kortlen slept through both races (of course he did), so I could take pictures and simultaneously record the race for my mom.  That must be in my blood.  I'm turning into my mom! I literally had the camcorder in one hand and my camera in the other.  I ROCK!

Clay and I grabbed a bite to eat at Subway after the meet was over, and headed to Burley to support Katelyn in her State Volleyball Championships.

The North Gem Cowboys lost the first two, won the third, and lost the last match, so they took second in the state in their division!  They fought hard, but still lost.  (Katelyn is number 11, holding the trophy.)

The girls all took it pretty hard, but what do you do...pick yourself off the floor and move on.  The 'red eye' was un-fixable in these pictures, if you get my drift.

All in all, Kortlen was a fabulous baby...we left home at 9 this morning, and didn't get home till after 10pm.  He slept any time we were in the car.

Ryan ran errands with the boys after work, and came home and put them to bed.  My sitter had worn them right out!  The two trick-or-treaters we did get, we told them we were out of candy.  We didn't buy any because we were planning to go to the awesome party I mentioned earlier...but it all worked out.

Even though we didn't go trick-or-treating, we went to both grandparents' homes for treats earlier in the month, attended a ward party (where they got more than enough candy) and went on a little parade for Joy School.

This year we had a Bat, a Cowboy, and a Pumpkin.  This picture was snapped at my mom's on the 15th of October.

 

Nightmare on Nineteeth Street

It pretty much started with me falling asleep on the couch reading a book and holding Kortlen...and Ryan falling asleep in Taylor's bed about 8:30 pm...and it all went downhill from there.  Apparently the ward Halloween party wiped us all right out.

I woke up at midnight, woke up Ryan so he could go to bed, and when I laid Kortlen in his crib, the poor baby couldn't breathe, and was barking.  NOT GOOD.

So I resolved to sit up with him on the couch, nurse, and try to comfort him.  I was 99% sure he had croup.  I asked Ryan to put a diaper on Taylor, because he went to bed with underwear instead of a diaper (despite being dry for three days, I was not wanting to wash sheets today...out of detergent, and a trip to the store was not on my to-do list!).  I think Ryan grunted in bed, and rolled over.  I sat down to nurse and read, when a certain two-and-a-half year old waddled into the living room, whining, because he peed the bed.  Uggh!

Without giving you a play-by-play (because I know you all want to read it...sorry), Tanner had an accident an hour later, Kortlen wouldn't nurse...because he couldn't breathe and suck at the same time, and Taylor came out at least four times between wetting the bed and 4 am wanting to watch "Cat in the Hat" and other movies.  I used the snot-sucker (bulb syringe) and saline on Kortlen about every hour, hoping to relieve some congestion, and when Ryan finally did fall asleep, I woke him up five minutes into dreamland so he could give Kortlen a blessing.  I didn't know what else to do.

I was shot. I took the battery out of the clock in the living room, because between the loud ticking and the deep/raspy/congested breathing and barking, I wasn't dozing off.  And I can sleep through ANYTHING!  I attempted to nurse Kortlen one more time, and he got a little bit before he konked out.  Poor little guy.  I laid him in his bed, figuring we'd call the doctor in the morning...if I was ever able to wake from the coma I was sure to fall into.

I went to bed at 4:22 am, and two little boys crawled in bed with me at 5:55 am.  Ryan was a sport and got up to turn on cartoons and I stayed in my comatose sleep until 8 am, when I frantically woke because I hadn't heard Kortlen since I had put him down...at all.

The best part about this whole nightmare, was knowing that I didn't have to get up and go to work the next day, or be a completely functioning parent for that matter.  It was bliss, despite the nightmare.

Today was crazy busy, running errands, going to the doctor's office to confirm what I knew, going to the pharmacy three, THREE! times, and helping dear friends, and trying to keep everyone happy.  I caved and bought dollar hamburgers at Old McDonald's inbetween errands. 

Now that Tanner and Kortlen have had their steroids (Prednisolone-something-or-another) for the night, hopefully we'll all sleep a bit better.  As of 9:00 pm, all three boys are soundly and QUIETLY sleeping, which is a huge improvement upon last night.  Here's to hoping that tonight we'll all have sweet dreams!  The laundry and dishes will still be here when I wake up, so I'm off to get some much needed shut-eye.

Restoring Order

Working on restoring some order to this little nest of ours...

I'm considering a chart for myself...it's that bad!


And maybe this will help to motivate a little boy to be dry all day, every day! 

Although his big brother is his biggest motivator.  :) 

In the mood....Mwahahahaha!

Our apartment doesn't lend itself for bins upon bins of decorations for each holiday, so I generally don't get into decorating too much...except for Christmas, which I've accumulated four large containers worth of decorations!

Recently I've seen some fun ways to get in the mood for Halloween...and wanted to try my hand at 'smooking' our little place up.  (Tanner cannot say 'spooking' for the life of him!) 

You can click on any of the pictures to make them larger.  :)

• I made the garland with some glitter scrapbook paper, some hand-cut letters and some dyed twill tape.  Time consuming, but super easy...making the ribbon was probably the most fun!

• I found the paper mache skulls at Michael's and used a 40% off coupon for each.  Originally $1.99.  I then painted them light buttercream and rubbed them down with antiquing gel.  Super Easy.  Tanner and Taylor each think they have their own heads.  LOL!

• Leftover cheese cloth from the 'photography' days was put to good use by ripping it, stretching it, gnarling it, and wrapping it around all the nick-nacks.  The hardest part was decided where to tear it apart!

• I already had the crow and pumpkins, my ONLY Halloween decorations before yesterday.

 
This bookshelf also needed some sprucing up.
(click on it to make it bigger)

• Under my calender, is our wireless router...that glows blue...so I took the liberty of covering it up with some more of that cheese cloth...and I still have about 5 yards of the stuff left! 
• I got the idea for the batty tree from my friend Becky.  Her's turned out much more cute, though!  I can't decide if I want my bats bigger, or just to leave them.  When we were up at my in-laws, Ryan was asked to trim some trees...so I took the opportunity to find a few branches, asked my handy husband to cut part of the stump for the base, and my father-in-law drilled some holes for the branches to sit it...I didn't glue them in, but figured I would just store the base and find new branches each year...then I don't have to store them! 

• I can't help myself, and keep finding treasures at the D.I.  This "Story Hour Readers Revised Primer" with Mother Goose was looking rather witch-y, and I just had to display it!  

***I am proud to say I did all of this for under $5...some of the supplies I already had (cheese cloth, paints, twill tape, books...they were mostly a dollar or two, though.) so I only had to buy the paper for the garland, mini clothes pins, and the skulls.  TOTALLY awesome! ***

For good measure and to complete my day of crafting and laundry, I finished up a project that was put on the back burner;  I haven't decided if I can pull off wearing it or not though. 

I just have a few needle-punch projects, a silhouette on canvas, and table runner to make. By the time I finish those (most likely the day before Halloween!) I might have some decorations for my piano!   Who knows... maybe I'll do the table runner and other projects tonight!  Mwahahaha!!!

{three months old}

Kortlen has got to be the smiliest baby we know!  He is always content, happy and alert.  He's got some crazy hair going on, but it's totally 'Kortlen'.  He just doesn't look himself if I comb it over (which takes a good dollop of hair-gel to get it to stay).

He has gorgeous blue eyes, and the plumpest little cheeks!  He is good to take long naps, is a fabulous eater, and loves to watch his big brothers wrestle.

(I took this with him on a black background, and he's wearing a blue shirt...I promise, I didn't cut his head off for this shot!  LOL!)

I love to nuzzle his neck to get him giggling.  But only after baths...any time he spits up it usually goes behind his ears or into the folds of his neck.  Try as I might, I don't catch it all and by the end of the day, things start to smell a bit sour.  *giggle*

He doesn't love his binkie, but does love to hold onto anything soft...our hands, a blanket by his face, my shirt while I'm nursing...And nursing is going well...far better than with the other two.  Kortlen is such a tease sometimes...and he bit me today.  Little turkey!

Just last week he graduated from the bassinet/pack-n-play to the crib.  Truth be told, I was tired of trying to get shut-eye between he and his daddy snorting and deep breathing all night long. Despite the snorting and gurgling, Kortlen is a good little sleeper...after eating at 8pm, he will sleep until 4 or 5 in the morning.  Sometimes if I'm up late doing laundry or whatever, I'll wake him up to nurse him about 11 or 12 and he'll sleep in till 8.  He's a dream! 

There are moments, however, when this little guy get's ticked off...like when I put him in the swing.  If I didn't know any better, I'd say he HATES it!!!  But it's sometimes more safe than the floor or the crib...plus, it's like an extra set of arms.

If he doesn't have the binki in his mouth, he has his left pointer finger, hence the 'forcing' of the binki...I am not really thrilled about my kids sucking on their hands.  This little finger is all chapped and red, but he sure does like it!  I'd say he's teething, but Tanner and Taylor didn't get their first teeth until after they turned one (or very close to it, like the day before!). 

We are just totally in love with this little boy.  I even caught Ryan playing with him on the floor the other day.  Made my heart melt.  Pretty soon Tanner and Taylor were quickly beside their baby brother and daddy, and everyone has happy!  Including me.

I shouldn't have...

...but I did. 

I should be getting ready for family pictures tomorrow (putting together outfits) and packing (aka: finishing laundry) to go to my mom and dad's (making cookies)...

...but I needed to get something special done for some special little boys.

I can hardly wait to show you the fabulous results with the darling little people wearing them! 

Punkins

We needed out tonight, so we headed to the U-Pick Red Barn for some good fun.  Knowing I'd not be in the mood or position to garden this summer, we didn't plant one, as we have in years past (and this was probably the year we needed it most!).  The only thing I really missed from this experience was the fresh vegetables and the beautiful pumpkins.  And the dirt.  And the weeds.  And the lack of preserved veggies the rest of the winter will probably not go un-noticed...  Okay, so I really should have planted one anyways...

It was nearly impossible to get a decent picture of this fun outing!  These boys make me laugh and make me cry...today it was both. 

Non-moving subjects.  Easy-peasy. 

For $5 each, the boys were able to go on a train ride around the barn, find their way through a straw maze, and pick a 'punkin'. 

They are soooo excited for Halloween!  Mostly to carve those pumpkins...We'll see how that turns out!

lost...

...my motivation is. 

Find it, I can't.  (Ryan watched 10 minutes too much of Yoda tonight...with his StarWars blankie and all.)

For anything.

Not for sewing, crafting, cleaning, reading, playing, or even enjoying.

Well, that last one I'm working really hard on. 

The others will come back soon enough. 

*sigh*

Guess you could say I lost my spunk and am in a funk.  Blech. 

Fire Station No. 5

We were on our way to the park and called our friends to join us, but they persuaded us to join them instead! 

While we were waiting for our friends to show up, there was an actual fire call...and we got to watch two firemen get their gear on and leave in one of the big yellow trucks (for you firemens' wives (ahem, Kate) is there a reason for different colored fire engines???)  Tanner declared he wanted to be a fireman.  He thought it was so cool!

We had so much fun looking at the fire engines...

...participating in a simulation fire drill...like 15 times, seriously...

...putting out fires...

...and driving the fire truck, of course!

Along with the 49 pamphlets and goodies I picked up for our next FHE, the boys got cookies and juice.  Just what we needed for dinner!

We had lots of fun trying on the gear...

Apparently we have a foot or two to grow before it will fit properly. 

What a fun day we've had!  A trip to the library, no naps, another outing to Fire Station No. 5, and waiting up for daddy to put us to bed.

***Needless to say, within the thirty minutes of getting home, both stickers are trashed and both hats are smashed beyond recognition.  Go figure!***

Childhood Favorite

At the end of summer, when the garden was full, but before the Zucchini was big enough to make boats out of, mom would make Chocolate Zucchini Cake.  My favorite part is the topping, of course.

So I made some the other day and ate nearly the entire pan by myself.  *oh, the shame*

And this is how I ate EVERY piece.  In a bowl of milk.  At midnight.  *there was NO shame*

Ironically, the few pieces Tanner and Taylor did have, they asked me to eat the top and they ate the 'cake';  WITH the vegetable in it.  SCORE!!!  I suppose the real shame is that Ryan doesn't like chocolate cake...because I would have shared.  Sadly, Kortlen hasn't enjoyed it as much as I have, but I couldn't justify throwing it away...so I just kept eating it.  Poor baby!
 
{Chocolate Zucchini Cake}

Cream:

• 1/2 cup margarine or butter
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs

Alternately add:

• 2 cups grated zucchini (if you're pulling it from your freezer, dump in all the liquid in the bag and the zucchini...even if it's watery, because that's moisture that would have been in it originally.)
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk + 1 Tb vinegar)

Add:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 4 Tb cocoa
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda

Top with:

• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• I double the topping, always...just sprinkle it on before baking.

Bake in a greased and floured 9x13 pan, at 350 deg F for 40-45 minutes.  The very first piece hot out of the oven is the BEST in a bowl of cold milk...mmmm!

Starting Today

I have the world in my arms.  

These little boys are my everything.

I'm learning that "life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful". 

Quite recently there have been many moments of uncertainty, moments of fear, moments of tears and moments of pain.  But, they don't hold a candle to the moments of joy, happiness, gratitude, and peace I feel when I look into their eyes, and the eyes of their daddy. Ironically, I feel so safe wrapped up in their little arms, and comforted with Ryan by my side.  I wonder if it's one of those tender mercies, because I feel like I should be the one to wrap them up in my arms. 

Right now I feel like I'm out-growing my shoes and there aren't any new ones to replace the raggedy, holey and bottomed-out old ones.  But I also realize, that I have some shoe polish and my toe-nails are painted, so I can wear them in style. 

Every day it seems like I'm 'starting today' to be a better mom, to be a better wife, to be a better daughter or to be a better sister. Some days those shoes I'm wearing are too comfortable, which means I'm not growing at all.  However, today it seems as if I'm so uncomfortable, that my feet might burst through the laces.  So, maybe I'm growing through of this after all?

I guess when I wake up in the morning and see these happy faces, that I'll start again, 'today'.

{Called to Serve}

My darling little sister, Stephanie, received her mission call this week!  I can't believe she's turning 21 already!!!  I feel so old!  I remember when I turned 21...wow.  Since we were gathered for our grandpa's funeral, we met as a family at the Brick Oven after the viewing to watch her open her call!

Sister Stephanie Crandall is called to serve in the

Kennewick, Washington Mission!

She reports to the Provo Missionary Training Center on January 19th, 2011.  

Reed had me convinced that she wouldn't fly out to Washington, but ride the Greyhound, instead. 

I pulled the map & the following information from the mission website...Just so you can truly appreciate how nerdy I really am.  :)

The Washington Kennewick Mission serves the following areas:

Hermiston Oregon
Kennewick Washington
Kennewick Washington East
Longview Washington
Pasco Washington
Richland Washington
Selah Washington
The Dalles Oregon
Vancouver Washington
Vancouver Washington East
Vancouver Washington North
Vancouver Washington West
Walla Walla Washington
Yakima Washington

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Just between you and me, I think I'm going to start job searching these areas for Ryan.  You know, applying for jobs for my husband. So I can sneak in visits to my sister.  :)   I don't know how I'll survive without being able to call or text her every day.  It's going to be quite the adjustment...especially since her phone will likely be 'handed down' to Katelyn.  Funny, that it started out as Reed's and just keeps passing down from one sibling to the next as they leave on missions!
__________

If you are unfamiliar with missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, check out this site:  Missionary Opportunities

or this one:  Mormon.org

or just ask me.  :)