Past Bedtime

We should have been in bed.  Eight o'clock is bedtime, after all!

But then again, it's summer, and despite a few mishaps today, there was too much goodness to pass up and nobody seemed to want to end the day.  Picture overload....


I can't pick JUST ONE....she's growing up too fast, and her personality is starting to shine!  Keetley is such a sweet baby....she's always so happy and chipper and content.

 ...unless I hit a big curb in the stroller....

 ...but it doesn't take long for her to return to her happy self!

Can you guess what a little boy got for his birthday???  He LOVES his new hat!

Now, this is a hat that fits, and it fits well!  He can rock climb without it falling off....and those boots.  They melt me.

and then there's this handsome fellow...it was his idea to come to the park...

 ...and if I didn't know any better, I'd say he wanted to show his boys how to have a little fun!

Tanner is our other climber.  I'm not even sure he put shoes on to come to play....hmm...

 This boy loves to collect rocks.  Don't tell him I've thrown away all the rocks in his pockets....and shells, and air-soft bb's, and other mysterious treasures.  Today he and Taylor pulled the legs off a grasshopper....I have to close my eyes and hold my breath every time I dig through their pockets for fear of finding bugs!

Taylor was moving so fast I only snapped one picture of him this evening.  He got a little pink from playing out in the sun....and his hair is going blonde!  He's a firecracker, this one.

And once we finally got home, we STILL wanted to play!  Bring on the tic-tac-toe tournament....one of those 'pinterest' crafts that actually worked out...and I'm happy I took the time and put in the effort.

I'm pretty sure I'll be washing sheets in the morning as nobody got baths.  We read library books and went straight to bed....I don't even want to think about how dirty their hands and feet were when their eyelids shut, and their hearts slowed down.  Come to think of it, we didn't brush our teeth, either.  *sigh*

Tomorrow will still come.  And we'll start over then.

Fast Update/Many Ramblings

---My kids like climbing up onto the roof of our house...no biggie....if they fall off, we get a cast.  However, tonight they climbed onto the roof of the garage.....that has 5 electrical wires from the power poles to surrounding houses, including ours....Gahhhhhhh!!  It's kindof hard to bring kids back from the dead if they're electrocuted....or are stupid.

---I got to climb up into the tree in our back yard this afternoon because Taylor was about 12 feet up and I couldn't help him from the ground.  Again...not worried about the falling thing, more worried about him getting his shirt caught and him strangling to death...because that really almost happened when we first moved in.  His elbow got caught and he was hanging between two branches.

---I promise, I do care if my kids fall, but sheesh...do I need to tether them to the ground?

---Kortlen is fascinated with the fact that he can completely cover himself in fine-dirt/dust, and then laughs hysterically when I try to catch him and brush it off...turkey!

---I finally got a picture of blue skies from my front lawn last night...we've been basking in smoke for the last month....I'd forgotten what those beautiful Idaho skies looked like!

---Finished up Dylan and Ashlee's wedding album....had such a fun time taking the pictures, and they were a quick edit, once I sat down to do them!  ALMOST makes me want to do photography more, and make my amateur skills useful. Guess I'll stick to people just passing on my info word-of-mouth, and not advertising.  I already stay up way too late!

---Tanner and Taylor have been loving piano lessons, and I am, too!!!  They each practice 10-15 minutes a day, and then go play while I practice for an hour or so.  It's so refreshing....but probably the reason my kids are getting themselves into sticky situations....hmmm.....Guess I need to reserve my practice time for later in the evening.

---There has been NO CANNING at our house this fall....I figured since we already have a closet full of canned produce, that nobody likes, we'll starve when the EMP hits, and then I'll be sorry I didn't do what I knew I should have....PREPARED MORE FOOD!

---Taylor has a unique talent of catching bugs.  By the wings.  Then he examines them, lets them go, and catches them again and brings them to me...like a cat.  He's particularly intrigued by flies.  Those big bull flies....*shudder*.  Well, at least I don't have to hear them buzzing around for too long, nor do I have to swat at them.

---Tanner is in the top of his class for math skills, but the bottom for reading, and has the home room teacher that teaches BOTH those classes.  I don't know whether to feel sorry for her, or for him.

---I love mowing my own lawn.  I love digging up the foliage I don't want next year, and planning what I do want instead!  I can't wait to start hacking away at the overgrown shrubs (14 feet, no kidding!) in our back yard to make room for a LOVELY garden spot come spring.  Exciting things, people!

---I have been trying my darnedest to keep this house picked up so that we can spray for Hobo Spiders ...when we get around to it.  Trouble is, by the time I get around to it, there are toys strewn everywhere again.  I sorta wish the world would stand still while I clean.  Wouldn't that be nice?!

---Had to buckle down and go out to the garage to pull out my maternity clothes from 'the stack' of totes (which I recently rotated for the boys...guess it was my turn).  I have to admit, that while I've been putting on weight from all the sugar wafers I've been craving, I'm hoping some of that weight will shed off quickly when we have baby number four the first part of April.

---And because I know you're going to ask, we're due April 11th (the dr. thinks???) and while I'd love a sweet little girl, I think the pros of another boy outweigh all the bows and pink glitter shoes a mother could buy.  BUT either way, we're ecstatic!  I've been told more than once by more than one little boy in this house, that they're getting a sister.  And now that we know we're not having twins, we'll just be happy with whatever Heavenly Father blesses us with.

---Wish me luck.  And pray that no children fall off any roofs, out of any trees, or get electrocuted on my watch, while I'm growing a new sibling.

New Eyes

Today was a big day.  A monumental day!  I've been waiting for three years to have my vision corrected so I can not worry about contacts or glasses.  To prep for this day, I have worn only glasses for 4 years.  And it paid off!!!  I didn't have the ghost veins in my pupils and corneas that my optometrist thought I would have which makes having LASIK near impossible.

I'm not gonna lie....I was a little nervous. 

Don't you think the hair-net suits me?!  LOL!

I BEGGED Ryan to stay and take pictures of the procedure so Tanner and Taylor could see it, because Tanner insisted that "You won't look like our mom if you aren't wearing your glasses!"...And he was able to see a few minutes of it before heading off to work....even if it was only on a tv screen. :)

I'm under the black machine and the bed pivots
back and forth under the white machine....spiffy stuff!

This is what you see when in 'the chair'.  I had to look only at the green light in the center.  The yellow lights had to stay lined up, in a square.  The white and blue lights were SUPER bright!!!

This is after my 3 hour Loratab-induced nap on Taylor's bed in the boys' dark bedroom.  I felt terrible and wanted to cry.  Not because I was in pain (uncomfortable, yes) but because I was scared to open my eyes!!!  Can you say "sissy"?!  I would compare it to the feeling of not wanting to use the bathroom after having a baby.  I kid you not.

This is what Hell looks like.  

I can take off my bug eyes to put drops in, but will have to sleep in them tonight and wear them tomorrow.  I'm so cool!  I also cannot don't have to wear makeup for at least a week.  And then only light eye makeup for the next three weeks....I think I can handle that.  I am not sure my teenage-skin will fare well without concealer though.  Who knows...maybe it will clear up. :)

Now, at 8:30pm, nearly eight hours after having a laser and amazing doctor correct my vision, these are going to be my BEST friends!  I am using them like one eats chocolate on a bad day.  :)

Thanks to my mommy & daddy for taking the boys for the weekend while I recover without children under foot and quite possibly become VERY productive with some reorganizing that's been put on the back burner.  :)

_____

@ Kate:  I was really afraid, too.  I had Ryan and my dad give me a priesthood blessing the day before and that helped calm my nerves immensely.  There was lots of pressure from the suction thing....and it probably wouldn't have hurt too much except I popped the suction thing off twice with my eyelids (the lights were bright at that point and I wanted my eyes closed)....Not intentionally though, because I didn't really know I was doing that....they totally numb your eyeball.  LOL!  And I was also worried about looking at the green light....but it's not for long and wasn't that hard...when the suction is on, you can't really see anything....so looking at the light was much easier than I thought.   The nurses were amazing...gave me a Loratab and when my sweet friend Karen dropped me off at home, I walked straight to bed and slept so good. :) This morning (day after) I feel GREAT!  My lashes are a little gunky from all the eye drops, and the back of my throat is nasty, again from all the eye drops, but I laid in bed and could see the alarm clock across the room!!!  It. was. fantastic!!!!

Randomness

I haven't fallen off the bandwagon, just fallen asleep.  I've been in a funk, and I'm trying to pull myself out of it...So for posterity's sake, here's a bunch of randomness and catching up:

Wednesday, Feb. 1st, my parents came up to celebrate my birthday...while we were waiting to meet them for some errands, I (on a whim) decided to go to the park.  Even though my kids refused to bring their coats, we all had a very nice time freezing and playing and laughing and running and swinging and giggling and freezing.  Yes, freezing.

Thursday, Feb 2nd, I had a very full and enjoyable day.  Ryan and I hit the gym (he did his own thing while I busted out the guns with my friends Karen & Cindy, doing Jillian's shred.), then we hurried home and got ready for the day.  I picked up Tanner from school, headed back to the gym to work and taught a gazillion 24 preschoolers about Groundhog Day (it was friend/sibling day, so we had extra kiddos), and lost my voice.  Ryan's parents came to celebrate with us, and we had a very nice visit, complete with cake, cake, and more cake.  When they left, we changed into our swim suits, headed BACK to the gym (for the third time, in case you lost track) and swam, swam, swam.  Every once in a while it's nice to just play in the water and wear yourself out.  After an hour of THAT family fun, we hurried home to fix the kids dinner, get cleaned up AGAIN, and made sure the boys were all asleep so we could pick up the sitter and leave at 7pm.  Lucky for us (and the sitter) they STAYED asleep, while Ryan and I enjoyed a prime rib dinner (courtesy of our stake presidency) at the district scout awards banquet.

Friday, Feb 3rd - I'm sure it was a nice day, but I honestly don't remember much of it.  It's all a blur.
***edited to add:  My dear friend, Stevie came to visit me!!!  And brought the CUTEST card over.  And her little guy got to play with my little guys.  It was so nice to just TALK.  It's been much too long!!  I also did my workout and took Tanner to his workout...and I skyped with my little sister for a hour at it was HILARIOUS!!!  Love it!!!

Today, Saturday, Feb 4th was certainly full to the brim.  Not only did I skip my spinning class, but I ate WAY more than I should have, and it's interesting that my body was protesting against all the sugar and calories...I know I wasn't bored (I was quite productive today!) so I must eat to procrastinate 'things'.

Today I (brace yourself): made breakfast, did the dishes, went to Home Depot with the kids to make the free craft (Heart Box), returned dvd's to the library, found treasures at the D.I., did 3 loads of laundry, made lunch, did dishes, facebooked, and fixed my fall wreath that was oh, so sad.  I'll post pictures later. Because I had the glue-gun out, I decided to fix my shoes.  And Taylors, and Kortlens.  I'm officially a member of the Poulsen Family, because I patched my shoes with an old sock and hot glue.  Thank you to my inspiring and thrifty father-in-law!!!  And to my grandmother, for her super-duty-circa 1970's glue gun complete with counter-top laminate glue sticks.  They totally made the project work.  New pair of Keens:  $110.00.  Inherited Glue-gun:  priceless.

Then I started cleaning my bathroom and scrubbed so hard on the black grout, that I actually REMOVED the silicone sealant on it and FINALLY got most of the black off...well, half of it...and bleached the heck out of it, while wiping down the walls and cleaning the toilet and everything else that goes along with cleaning a bathroom.  (I clean my bathroom weekly, but the mold trapped in the sealant has gotten horrid in the last 5 years...I'd had enough of it today!).  Somewhere in here the boys ate lunch...and Kortlen took a nap.

I had promised the boys they could paint their heart box, so we did that, had a snack, cleaned the living room (pulling out furniture and vacuuming under/around, which is really not a big deal, since I do it once a month), the boys' bedroom (putting everything in it's place, including the 'too-small clothing pile' that was taking over the top of the dresser), and the kitchen.  We had to have some time-out moments in there, but for the most part, everyone helped and everyone did a good job. It was a treat to have Ryan home for dinner...and I hope it becomes a more regular thing around here.  We made dinner, ate it, and got bathed and the boys into bed...

...ALL before 7:15pm.

Yes, I'm quite proud of my accomplishments today.  It's not every day I can say that I did a-z and managed not to lose my head...or take another human's head off.  LOL!

I just downloaded the pictures from my new camera, and should download the owner's manual for said camera, since I'm totally lost (shouldn't be, but am).  Finished up the designs I've been asked to put together for our swim team and the region's winter championship shirt.  Not to mention the team towel design and 25 year anniversary shirt I'm designing, too.  I'm loving this new 'graphic design' phase I've been thrown into.

Now, if only I can get 4 lesson plans done and 'turned in' before 11, I just might sleep like a baby tonight.
***Didn't get the lesson plans done, but I got the couch cushions washed and put back together, and those 3 loads of laundry folded...YAY!

{Merry Christmas!}

For our friends and family who are regulars here, I'll spare you the Christmas Letter as you're aware of the wonderful, the crazy and the great things we've experienced this year.  However, we want to still let you know of our gratitude for you, and especially of our testimonies of Jesus Christ.

We are so very blessed to have both your love and support and the love of Christ present in our lives.

Thank you.  And Merry Christmas!  We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

and because I really cannot decide which card I like better, here's option two.  *giggle*

It Testifies

It seems that lately my cup isn't full enough.  It would only be appropriate for me to more prayerfully read, to become closer to He who cares so deeply for me.  I know that the words of our prophets in the Book of Mormon are true.  I know that they are for me.  And for you.  Go.  Read that book.

Don't have a copy?  Go HERE for your very own FREE copy.  or let me know and I'd be happy to get you one so you can see how beautiful and wonderful and full of truth it is.

It's Monday!

...so as promised, a few more details.  :)  Sorry to make you all wait - got back from Rexburg and had to run off to swim team pictures...my children are screaming for attention and food, so this will be quick.

You can check out their awesomeness HERE. 

We got a job with Rocky Mountain Power (Thank you for the lead, Tim!!), as a meter reader...totally not the reason we went and got a master's degree, but we'll take it!  We are really excited for the much better income and stability, and a daddy that won't have to work Black Fridays, and during holidays, and from 5 am till 2 am every.single.day.  Tanner is already looking at 'for sale' signs in front of homes and making suggestions as to what we can and cannot afford.  (Somebody has big ears...probably got them from his mom.) Ryan will commute to Rexburg while we continue to save (at a much quicker rate, thankfully!) and look for a home between Idaho Falls and St. Anthony.  Somewhere on the outskirts of town, we're thinking.  But really, we have time on our side, and aren't in a hurry.  (if you know of any 3+ bdrm, 2 bth. 1 garage and between 1-3 acres in a reasonable price range, let us know!)

Regardless of Ryan's meeting today, we don't know much more than we did last Thursday.  Today, me and the boys helped wash windows and play at Grandma's house, while Ryan went and did some paperwork, went in for a drug screening, and had to have a background check.  When all of that goodness comes back proving that Ryan is a capable, drug-free and felon-free individual, he will have a start date.  We are praying within the next week we'll have that date and can put in two-weeks notice at our other jobs.  Sweetness! 

Knowing there's an end in sight and a brighter future within our reach is such a good feeling.  I've always known it's not going to stay like 'this', but just knowing that I can almost touch it is such a relief!  

So there you have it! Off to fix dinner, then bathe babies and throw a couple of Halloween Costumes together!!! 

{Love}

My new desktop.
Love.

Dripping wet at Spinning.
Love.

Bed fixed.  Mattress won't fall through frame again!
Love.

Talking with my sister Katelyn on the phone.
Love.

Sleeping Children.
Love.

Dishes done.  Floors clear.
Love.

Scout Binder passed onto the next amazing leader.
Love.

Pulling out old sheet music, reminiscing.
Love.

Sunshine on the floor, warming my feet.
Love.

Basket of tomatoes from my garden waiting to be made into soup.
Love.

A little R & R {October 7-9th}

We have had our plans change more than once when wanting to go and visit Ryan's Brother and Sister-in-law in Bear Lake this year.  And despite the crummy weather, we loaded up and left town to get as much Rest and  Relaxation as possible before plowing into the holiday season.  Ryan took some "Mental Health Days" and we sure did enjoy them!

We made a short and very cool (no pun intended, but it was FREEZING!) stop in a close-to-home town...and saw the Soda Springs Geyser.  I thought it erupted every fifteen minutes, and after waiting at least that long, the boys thought it was better viewed from the comfort of a heated car.  Can't say I blame them!

It took me 20 minutes to realize this ISN'T the geyser I should
have expected...just gearing up for that ahah moment. 

Travertine terraces were pretty amazing and beautiful!
Blue skies would have made for gorgeous pictures. 

Smart to get in the warm car! 

The drive down was beautiful...the dark and mystic skies - scenery in general was gorgeous!

The clouds were very intense the whole drive...super fun! 

not bad for a 'through the windshield' photo! LOL! 

We didn't let a little rain ruin our fun though.  The kids played so well together, and had a blast just playing with their cousins.  We adults also had a nice time catching up and visiting.  When we decided to stay an extra day, Mitch and Heidi and their kids led us on an adventure up a gorgeous canyon, where the kids ran to get wiggles out and collected cans for their local recycling program, threw rocks in the river, then ran along the path.  Ryan even let Rylee & Mitch shoot a few rounds off my P22 Walther handgun...Heidi and I herded the kids back to the car, but not before some fun and silly photo ops.

Proof I was there and helped carry the baby.  

Do you want a "Merry Christmas" now or later?  :) 

Cousins....I love this shot! 

These three crack me up.  They played so well together! 

Thanks again, guys!

Brotherly Bonding moment right here.

loved the back pack

Millions and millions of these beauties made the stroll enjoyable and breathtaking.

Of course, as we were leaving Sunday afternoon, the sun's rays were starting to peek through the clouds...

Thanks for putting us up and putting up with us this weekend guys!  We need to do that again, soon!!!

We had to make a quick stop at my parents' home to pick up the bed frame my dad fixed for us...pictures to come!!!  Thank you dad!