Lunch Lady Surprise

Kitchen update:

We're into week 4 of the kitchen remodel. (originally this was something that I thought would take only a few days possibly a week....I have no idea what medication I was taking at that time!) We've got the doors all back on, and just have to do a few side pieces of the cabinets to even them out. I can't believe how much work this has been! I'm still getting estimates for countertops, and haven't been able to find one that I just absolutely have to have. I figure there's already a countertop there, it can wait until I find something I love.

I had to take these pictures. While painting the cabinet doors we raised them up on my cans. Needless to say, Jarren got a little carried away with the paint sprayer, and now this is what I'm left with. Dinner should be pretty interesting for the next little while.

Rylie lost her first tooth! This one has been loose for awhile, but we could never get her to work on it and pull it out. She was eating an apple for snack today and got it almost all the way out. She was so nervous to pull it, so enlisted her dad to help her out. I was outside and she came out half crying, half laughing with a piece of gauze in her mouth, mumbling that her tooth had finally come out!

I remember being so worried that she was never going to get teeth when she was little. I was so sure that I would be the one in 1,789,234,367..... cases who's child would not have baby teeth. (Hey she was my first, and you know how crazy first time mom's can be about this kind of stuff...trust me, I'm a lot more lenient with the second) Now, I'm worried about all of the orthodontic bills we are going to have with this one!

Thank you....

To the State of Utah. Over the weekend, we had to get our truck inspected in order to get it registered. We knew we needed to get the windshield replaced (gotta love Utah roads in the winter) and made sure we had this done before we took it in for the inspection. We've not had any problems with the truck, so I wasn't worried about having to fix anything..thought we'd pass with flying colors....WE DIDN'T!

Last summer, we had new tires put on the truck. We made sure we got the same size as what was on it before (stock) For one, we didn't want to spend the money on upgrading the size, and second, we would have to get a lift on the truck (more money, plus it would make it just that much harder to get in and out of the truck when I was pregnant...which I'm not...just wanted to throw that out there) and third, it would annihilate our gas mileage (again more money)

We even made sure that it was ok height wise, and wouldn't need to do anything special with it, like get the ever dreaded mud flaps. (Which I think look totally cheesy...unless you actually need them...so you're not spitting rocks at me while I'm driving behind you)

So Jarren calls me from the mechanic shop yesterday and says the truck is too high, and that we needed to, are you ready for it...put the DREADED MUD FLAPS on! My first thought was about how stupid I was going to look driving down the road in my non-jacked up truck, thinking that I needed to have mud flaps. Now, I'm not usually so concerned with appearances, but come on, MUD FLAPS!

I've now spent the last 24 hours driving around town looking at all the trucks, and getting mad at the really jacked up ones (that so obviously need mud flaps and don't have them) that I'm passing, secretly happy that when inspection time comes around for them, they will have to put ugly mud flaps on too.

Now, if you pass me on the road, and see my mud flaps flapping in the wind on my non-jacked up truck-don't judge me. The state made me do it.

Too Many

I have too many kitchen cabinets!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to everyone out there! It's been a pretty uneventful day, but it's been nice! We went to church this morning, and have pretty much lounged around all day. Well we went for a walk, (the kids rode their bikes) and we took Jax along. I should say that Jax took me for a walk! He is so strong he just kind of pulled me along. It was kind of nice having him pull me up the hills though!

I got the brilliant idea to remodel my kitchen earlier this week. (I don't think Jarren is too happy with me!) I think everything in my house is covered in a layer of dust! We have one more coat of paint to put on the cabinets themselves and then we'll have to do a varnish. It is a lot more time consuming than I originally thought! So my kitchen is in total chaos, and we have been stuck having to eat out for the majority of our meals. You'd think that I would like not having to cook, but I kind of miss the convenience of it! Hopefully we'll be able to start putting things away in a few days...then it's on to starting on the cabinet doors! Jarren was sweet enough to cook breakfast for dinner tonight. I could hear him up there cussing to himself about not being able to find anything, but it came out alright. (I've taken a lot of pictures, so when we're finally done, I'll post them start to finish!---It may be awhile though!)

This is what the kids and Jarren got me for Mother's day. Are these not just the cutest shoes ever!

Nevermind that when I wear these I'm almost 6' tall! I'm kind of surprised that Jarren got me these shoes because of this reason. His male ego gets crushed if I'm near the same height he is. I should also mention that I will probably hurt myself severely while wearing these, but it'll be so worth it!

Rylie also made a few Mother's Day things at school. She's been waiting on pins and needles since Friday to give it to me. She has such a hard time keeping presents a secret! This is one of the cards she made me. The writing is kind of small so look close, she is so funny!

I love this kid!

Rylie also started T-Ball this week. I think she was excited, but nervous because she didn't know what to expect. She had a practice on Thursday, and as I was doing her hair she says to me, "Oh man, I hope we don't have to wear helments, it will ruin my hair!" --I'm really concerned that she isn't mine! They had their first game on Saturday, and it was so fun to watch!

I had to take a picture of this. Everytime the ball was hit, regardless of where, every single one of the kids ran after it. It kind of reminded me of the fish you feed at the zoo. When you throw a piece of food in the water, 50 fish go after it! There was even some tackling!

Old Memories

Sorry this may be TMI for some of you.

I've just been reminiscing about things I use to take for granted before I had kids. For instance, this morning, I had to use the bathroom. The boys were watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so I got up and left the room. Nevermind that they hadn't talked let alone looked my way for the past 45 minutes, but as soon as I got in the bathroom, WWIII broke out in my family room. One of them all of a sudden needed a drink, one of them fell going up the stairs, they didn't want their sweatshirts on, etc. The way he was going on I thought his leg was broke, turns out it was his little piggy that he hurt. So I had to hurry and finish, and rush out to see what in the world was going on.
After all the crises were fixed, I sat down and started thinking. I don't even remember the last time that I got to go to the bathroom by myself, let alone close the door for a little privacy. It's funny how when things like this come up, the kids (no matter how much they have ignored me all day long) suddenly need something. I a lot has changed since I've had kids, but this one stood out in my mind. You would never think that something as little as going to the bathroom would be such a big deal, but it is to me! If only for a few minutes (I'll even go for seconds here!) of privacy! Ah well, maybe in a few years!

(Just a side note: I love my kids, and would not trade them for anything! Just wanted to mention that!)

Day 6

Today marks day 6 since having my wisdom teeth out. It has not been fun. I'm still pretty sore. I really thought that I would be feeling like myself again by now, but I guess not. The inside of my mouth has at least started to heal, but I'm still a little swollen. I was able to babysit for a few days this week, but am grateful that it was just a little here and there. This has really knocked me off my feet! Jarren has been really good about taking care of things and letting me rest. He has a scout camp tonight though, so it's just me and the kids so we're having a movie night so I can relax.

Rylie had her end of the year Kindergarten program yesterday. I can't believe how fast this school year has gone! She has grown up so much. Their theme for the program was America. One of Rylie's best friends is Savanna. Her mom and I got together and got them matching shirts to wear for the program. I think they were pretty excited!

This is all of the Kindergarten classes together:

Rylie and Savanna. They were standing so close to each other that everytime they would do their hand movements, they would hit each other!

Rylie had her very own speaking part. She memorized it, and said it perfectly! I was so proud of her!

It's Official: I Am Now A Cowgirl

I had just sent off my last extra kid for the day, and sat down to work on other stuff, when I could hear the kids yelling and screaming outside. At first I was thinking it was the neighbor riding his horse down the road again, but the screaming was getting louder and sounding more excited. I walked outside, and there were COWS (yes, cows!) walking down the road and on the neighbor's lawn! Jarren (and just about the rest of the whole neighborhood) was out there trying to get them to go back up the road, so I jumped on the 4 wheeler and took off after them. (Thinking of how I wished I would have had my camara, and maybe a hat or something to make me look more official)

We got them on the canal road with me behind them, and another guy on a 4 wheeler in front. He told me they were his brother's cows, and we were just going to take them along the canal road on home, but not to push them too fast. Ok, sounded easy enough to me. So he took off toward the front again. Pretty soon another neighbor joined in, but also went to the front of the herd.

We're going along and one of the cows was kind of straggling behind (I should have known from the beginning that me and this one were not going to be friends). I didn't want to get too close, so I revved the engine a little and told him to go. I don't know why I was acting like this thing was a dog, and would actually listen to a command, but I did. Yeah, it was a cow and he just stood there giving me the evil eye. So I revved the engine again, and he still just stood there. Ok, so what now? He was looking more ticked by the second, and here's me wondering how fast I can reverse along the curvy road we've been following, or how bad it was going to hurt when he charged me! I was looking around trying not to panic, when he finally turned (looking very annoyed by the way) and started after his friends.

We got to a point where we had to cross a paved road to get back onto the canal road, and this is where the cows decided to get into the canal. (By this time another neighbor had joined in so there are 4 of us now) So we had spend the next 15 minutes trying to get them out. (I am now hoping that Jarren remembers the dinner that I've got in the oven and the house isn't in flames when I get home from my little adventure) When I say we, I really mean they. There was no way I was getting off the 4 wheeler so one of them could come after me. So I just drove around trying to block where we didn't want them to go. They were all waving sticks and yelling hee yah, and git, generally what I'm guessing is cow herding talk. It must work because they finally got them back onto the path, and we went along our way. We hadn't even gone about 10 ft, when my little 'friend' stopped again. I figured since the cow herding talk worked for the others, I could try it. So I gave it my all and yelled hee yah, but I think it sounded more like a fear-filled screech. Needless to say, my hee yah didn't work, but he must have taken pity on me and my poor skills because he turned around and started following again. It was pretty slow going, but we eventually got them back where they needed to be. All in all I don't think I did too bad for my first cow herding experience!