Is It Naptime Yet

I know you all have been dying to see the family reunion pictures. 🙂

Well they’re mostly of my little family and kids and from the beginning of the reunion. Turns out I took twice as many of the fire than we did of the reunion. People sitting around talking just isn’t very interesting, or if we were doing something interesting we weren’t able to take pictures due to having our hands full!

Anyways here’s our photo’s from the trip.

The red sun we encoutered outside of Beaver. 7/6/07

The smoke outside of Beaver- 7/6/07

Eden as a suitcase.

Sick Lilah.:(

Preparation

My Aunt Sherri and Uncle Bud.

Craft table- cousin Nicole (Bud and Sherri’s granddaughter.) nephew Howie.

Me, Andrea and Brien- Brien Decorated their sunglasses

Eden in the apron we got there and with her bracelet/ tattoo that Brien put on her.

Katy decoratecd herself. She was trying to run away from Jon when he took this picture.

Tasty popsicles- where’s the apron when you need it?

The drive home

Fields we passed.

The side of the road before we hit the detour.

The detour begins- we’re on the I-70 when I took this picture.

Beautiful scenery until we hit traffic.

Our fate. Slow, snail paced traffic for about an hour and then heavy highway traffic.

Pretty rock cliffs.

That’s our picture overview. We’re not always good at taking pictures, but you saw some cute kids.:)

Yesterday I travelled to my mom’s house and put in the hem to Lilah’s dress.
Today I realized that I left my yellow thread in my Mom’s sewing machine. The ironic thing is I’m going to just buy a new thread at the JoAnn’s just down the street from me since it would probably cost me more in gas to go to my parents, also a lot of time.
So I have this small set back. I still have things I can sew, the sash, the bow and I can do the lining with white thread since it’s just the lining, but I also have Naia right now and I’m using her as my excuse not to sew since what I have left to sew needs ironed in hems. Of course her mom should be her soon, so my excuse will leave soon.
🙂 I’m getting there. I think I can possibly still have it done by Saturday night if I work hard.

I just wanted to mentioned that I’ve been tired lately. I fell asleep two nights in a row to watching “The Producers”, and I don’t think it’s the movie I think it’s me. I’m usually able to stay up late, but I’ve had to go to bed at 10:30 and 11 pm the past couple nights. Which has also taken two instead of just one night away from my sewing, but I don’t mind since in it’s the name of spending time with my husband.

Jon was away for a conference this weekend for work. (That’s why I went swimming on Saturday with Carolyn. Before the whole swimming fun I had to drop Jon off at the very bust airport, but I don’t like to mention that I’m home alone until the day my hubby returns, which is today!)
I was lonely this weekend and the hardest part was getting me and the girls ready for church on Sunday. Our church starts at 9 am and I’m not much of a morning person. I did get us all ready which included me showered and the girls bathed within an hour and a half. So we were ready at 9 but a little late for church. We made it before the opening hymn was over so I consider the job well done. I want to write down my crazy morning just because I’m proud of my multi-tasking
Eden woke me up at 6:45 am, I planned on getting up at 7 so I wasn’t very happy about this. We laid in my bed for a short time and then she decided it was enough and got out. I was still tired so I hung out with her on the couch while she looked at books. Well I rested my eyes anyways. After the books no longer occupied her time I started a movie and got in my shower at 7:30. Of course I took a super quick shower and before I did my face stuff, i.e. tweezing my eyebrows and putting on face lotion, I got the bath ready for the girls. Lilah was still asleep so I got her up and she eventually joined Eden in the tub. While they played I did my face stuff and what not then I washed Eden and got her breakfast so Lilah could play for just a couple of minutes in the bath. After Eden was set I got Lilah out, dressed and then breakfast. I blow dried my hair then got my cereal so I could eat while I curled my hair. Eden had finished eating so I think I got her down and dressed at this time.
Lilah finished while I was brushing teeth and putting on makeup. I got dressed and the girls hair done, packed snacks and books and paper for church and we left right at 9. This is a large accomplishment because I take about an hour to get ready with showering. To get us all cleaned in this time was very crazy.

Monday- I took the girls to the library and then we went swimming at the Jewitt’s. I got home around 1:30 and the girls read books while I read blogs and IMed Anna.
Eden went down for a nap and then Lilah about 20 minutes later. I also took a nap so I didn’t finish cutting out Lilah’s dress. No sewing today. 🙁
Anna came over for pizza and us girls had a blast. We ate and then Anna chased the girls around the house. We had sherbet and then blew bubbles outside. I had her over to distract the girls and give me some sanity since Jon was gone. When I told Lilah that Anna would be over for dinner she said she wanted Daddy home for dinner. 🙁
After we ate Jon called and Lilah had quite the conversation with him. My favorite thing she said was “to drive safely on the plane home daddy”
Eden even talked a little to daddy and I was happy to know that he’d be home the next day.

Tuesday- I have Naia and it’s going to be a little tricky if Jon’s plane comes in late. So I hope it’s right on time or a very late, but only by a half hour late, so Julie’s able to pick her up when she needs too.

I finished cutting things out last night. I was too lazy Sunday night and I had to figure out this netting thing with the pattern for a ruffle. Cutting out the fabric always takes longer than I think it will and white netting is hard to see on a white board with blue measurement lines. I was going a little nuts.
I hope the sewing goes smoothly. There are hems that I will need to do by hand or I’ll travel to my mom’s house and use her very expensive sewing/ embroidery/ quilting machine. I will probably travel to her house since I my hands get sore very quickly when I do sewing by hand. It almost seems like arthritis but I only get it with sewing and decorating cakes….hmm maybe I do have some form of arthritis.
Life is crazy. I think the girls will look beautiful in their dresses so I’m excited for this project and the wedding.

Note: This was begun and mostly written Saturday night, I was just to lazy to change it.

It’s been a crazy day. I decided to take the girls swimming with my sister Carolyn today. We thought we’d head over to the nearest public pool and have fun. I met her at my parents house and my niece Adrianne was there. Apparently Kaitlyn had dance class so my parents were watching the baby, Howie decided he wanted to watch his sister dance.
So once Howard got there we decided to have them come along. We left my parents house for the pool around 12:30 and Eden fell asleep on the way there. I had Carolyn and Lilah go on ahead and I let Eden rest for about 10 minutes. Then once we got inside the pool area and found Carolyn and Lilah something happened and they kicked everyone out for 15 minutes or so. I wish I’d stayed in the car a little longer since you melt quickly in 115 degree weather. ( I don’t know if it was 115 but I imagine it was at least 110.) Lilah didn’t like the fountain and waterfall things they had there. She hates loud noises and getting water on her face and they consisted of both. So I mostly walked around with Lilah and Carolyn took Eden “swimming” throughout the pool. Eden had a total blast and loved being with Aunt Carolyn. Lilah eventually warmed up to the thought of not holding on to me and started jumping up and down in the pool. (The water came to her shoulders easily, so I think the depth scared her.) It was a fun day to be outside and in the water. We saw Howard, Howie and Katy a little, but they were mobile and swam around where as Lilah was not.
We got to my parents in the late afternoon and I then went to JoAnn’s to get the lining that I needed for the girl’s dresses. I now have everything I need and I plan on cutting out Lilah’s dress tomorrow. I’ll have Naia three days a week for a few weeks and on my off days I plan on taking the girls swimming. So we’ll see how much sewing I get done. If all the children sleep well I should be fine. It’s making sure they all sleep at the same time.
I hope to get one dress done a week. If I’m not lazy and I sew at night I don’t think it will be a problem. I will be sizing Eden’s dress from a 3 to a 2, so I’m doing hers last so as to not have anything but her dress to worry about. I think hers may take longer depending on when I get the help to size down her dress. (Another note: I found out today, Sunday, that somehow the zippers I bought were left at the store, so I now need to go to Henderson sometime this week. Which is no big deal since I’ll need my mom to refresh my mind on how to put in a zipper. 🙂 I don’t sew often enough to always remember what I’m doing, plus she has a zipper foot which makes the process a little easier. )

Anyways after JoAnn’s we had dinner at my parents and Eden and Lilah fell asleep on the way home. Eden is in bed, Lilah is watching a movie.
I’m subbing in Primary for the 9 year old class tomorrow. I still need to get the lesson figured out. I like to reformat them so I have the scriptures listed before the questions. In the lesson’s it’s always the question and then the answer, which confuses me when I’m teaching. It’s an okay bunch of kids so I’m hoping it goes well. We’ll see though, and I’m teaching them next week also so I hope it goes smoothly.

Update: The class went well. The girls were more disruptive than the boys which kinda surprised me. They were pretty good in the class but once we got to sharing and singing time their attention span was all of 30 seconds.
I’ve also got most of Lilah’s dress cut out. I should be able to cut out the rest after the girls go to bed. I’m excited to start sewing tomorrow.

Jon’s new thing is to drink green tea. Now green tea is not technically against the word of wisdom so he’s still not breaking any rules, not that he cares, but I kinda do mostly for the sake of the girls and setting examples. I forget where, and maybe it’s a wise tale and hopefully Jon will give me some links to back me up since I’m just too lazy to look for them, but it has been said that in countries where tea is apart of their cultural that the church has said it’s okay to drink green and white tea, they just don’t advertise that too much here in the U.S. Green and white tea have less caffeine and I’ve even been told by a highly creditable source that the caffeine make up is completely different in black than green tea. Green tea also has health benefits, that’s one of the reasons Jon’s drinking it.

Anyways, I’ve tasted some of the tea’s Jon’s gotten and they just taste like not flavored enough water. I’m just not use to the subtleties. He also doesn’t add any sugar or sweetener’s so I think that makes them even more bland.
Well, while I was looking for his tea the other day at Smith’s I came across this Chai tea Latte mix. I have a friend who drinks Starbuck’s chai tea. Now they use a powder, I believe, but chai tea is made from regular black tea, so technically we shouldn’t drink regular chai tea because it is just spiced black tea, powder or not. Anyways the Chai tea latte mix that I found also comes in a green chai tea latte mix, in which I bought some and tried it. I found it delicious and on further search found out that it’s made by the same people who make Stephen’s hot cocoa, the best hot cocoa in America, I’ve never tried any others.
So I am recommending this Pacific Chai Green Chai Tea Latte mix. It mostly taste like spiced milk, but it is tasty. I’ve only tried it hot, but I think I’ll try it iced next time.

Since I sometimes have a lot of time on my hands, well usually due to procrastination, I sometimes do online surveys and what not. I’ve also entered some drawings. Why I do it is mostly due to boredom, but I’m also trying to find ways to save money for my little family. Not that I’m tremendously good at saving money. Sometimes I end up spending more than I should to save a nickel. Anyways. For a while I’ve subscribed to this one survey site. I’ve done lots of surveys, but only made $10, so I’m not really recommending it, just letting you know that I am subscribed. (I made $5 through their drawings, well one drawing, and $5 for a paid survey. I did a survey on Sunscreen, it was kinda fun. )

Anyways. I’m starting to do more of the surveys you see on receipts. I just filled one out for JC Penny’s, even though I’m not sure when the next time I’ll shop there will be. I got a 15% off coupon for my two minutes of time. (If anyone needs anything from Penny’s let me know, though they do have a long list of what it won’t apply to. I think it really only applies to clothing and towels.) I’m hoping that I can start saving my family money on things we need or things we want if I take time to fill out surveys or do research online for coupons. Like Chuck E’ Cheese can be very expensive but with the coupons it’s a little less crazy to spend money there.
Also if I called in and did the surveys on my Payless receipts within the allotted time I could save $2 when I buy the girls shoes there, or my comfy flip flops that I love.
I guess my reason for this post is to have people look at easy ways to save money or get prizes. I haven’t won any prizes, the trip I entered for my Target survey didn’t pan out, dangit, but if you put yourself out there then you get rewards. I don’t do things that give me solicitations, like the car drawings, but I look for coupons. Ya know time is money and if you’re willing to spend the time you can save money and what else do I have to do besides laundry and watching kids.
I don’t use regular grocery coupons. Mostly because we buy store brand and often even with coupons store brands can be cheaper if they’re on sale and you usually have to buy a newspaper to get the coupons, so we just go cheap. So my goal is to do surveys, they’re stupid but save money of you shop at that store and spend a lot. I only wish Costco would give me 10% off if I did a survey.
Were their plenty of taste test stations? -No I want more so I can leave with a free lunch.
Did you find what you need? -Yes and about $70 worth of stuff I didn’t.

Like I asked before anyone need anything from Penny’s?

Our trip started out rough.

On Thursday I had stomach cramps. Like really really bad ones. I could hardly move. I think it was due to the forth like Eden’s sickness. Jon took off work shortly after noon and came home to help me. I had Naia so he actually took care of her since Julie had errands she was running that day. He feed her and changed her diaper and I even heard him playing with her while I was resting. He sad it was hard work taking care of small baby, well at least feeding her lunch, it took about an hour or so. hehe.
So with me being sick on Thursday I was unable to do any laundry or get anything ready for the trip. We weren’t leaving until the afternoon on Friday, but we were hoping to shampoo the bedroom carpets before we left. (Yeah that didn’t happen, so I now have to think of a way I can keep the girls out of their room for about 12 hours. Um, I’m not sure how I’m gonna do that unless they’re no where near my house for a full day, including nap time.)
So we left late on Friday, 3:00pm. Our destination was Filmore so we weren’t in any rush. Since I was still not feeling well and we were thinking of stopping at a restaurant in Delta on the way home, we bypassed Chuck-A-Rama. 🙁
We just ate at a family restaurant in Filmore called Larry’s and had delicious shakes. The girls ate very little the whole weekend, since we mostly had fast food.
On our way to Filmore we passed the forest fire. It wasn’t as big yet, but it had filled the valley of Beaver with smoke. The sun was also red as we passed through the smoke. We hit Filmore around 8:00 pm Utah time.
We all slept in a little on Saturday morning so we didn’t leave Filmore until 9 am Utah time, in which we needed to leave at 8 Utah time to get to Tooele. Oh well.
When we went out to the car Filmore’s air was full of ash and smoke. Our car had a slight layer of ash covering it.
The smoke didn’t really let up until we reached the outer limits of Delta near Tooele.
Luckily the day was hot, but not too hot for the outside family reunion. We had the gazebo at the park and we were right outside their huge pool. Lilah was not feeling well so we didn’t go swimming. 🙁 When we mentioned we shouldn’t go swimming when we’re sick she decided she was fine but we didn’t buy it. We had a fun afternoon seeing family and doing various crafts. We mostly just sat around and talked and then had a BBQ for lunch, a raffle and some trivia questions. Andrea’s in charge of next year’s reunion, so we’ll see if it’s in Ely. We aren’t planning on going because I want to do a major vacation. (If Jon’s family has one we’ll be there, but that’s because they haven’t had one since Lilah was one. Which means we’ve only missed one thus far since they only do them every two years, but one missed reunion often leads to a second one and a third and so forth.)
After the reunion we headed to my parents hotel. The girls had fun running around and Jon took a couple winks. We ate Wendy’s for dinner, mostly because it was right across the street. When it was around 8pm our time Lilah decided it was bed time and consequently Eden also decided to go to bed. Lilah settled on the couch and Eden laid down in her playpen. They both went to sleep without any problem. Lilah did come into bed with us at one point. She was little heater next to me though and it was cold in the room so I didn’t mind.
Sunday as we were getting ready to go Shauntae called to tell us her boys had caught what she had, so it must have been contagious. (We were hoping it was just allergies.) So with that we we decided to just pack up and head home. I wanted to come home at night so the girls could see the city lights so we left late and even stopped at a park to get some of their energy out. Jon had looked online and the roads had been opened so we thought we’d get home no problem. Unfortunately had we left earlier we could have missed the detour, but we left late. We saw some pretty mountains during the detour and at one point Jon thinks he saw someone pee off the side of the road when we were at the beginning of the detour and just in standstill traffic. It was entertaining to have someone pee at this time.
Eden slept through most of the detour and Lilah entertained herself. At the beginning of the detour Eden kept shouting “Truck go away” or something along the lines of telling the 18wheelers to leave. It worked as we were moving and passing them, but then we were in standstill traffic. Too bad they were right next to us and had no where to go. It was cute though.
After the detour we made it home quickly, though late, 10 pm. Eden had taken a long nap so she was awake to see the city lights as we entered the valley, Lilah had fallen asleep shortly after Mesquite.
It was nice to be home and in our own beds last night. I have Naia bright and early at 8 am tomorrow so hopefully I can get my dishes done tonight.
I made cookies with the girls tonight, so I’m reluctant.

One thing I learned. I really do not like driving on the interstate at nighttime. With the darkness and lights it’s just harder to estimate the distance of the cars and keep track of where they are mentally. I was happy when Jon took over after I drove through the gorge.  It’s fun to drive at night in a way but more stressful to me if there are a lot of cars on the interstate. Of course in the city we have tons of street lights so it’s not as dark driving at night even on the highway.

Well, we went to Utah this weekend for a family reunion. We were also going to visit Jon’s niece Shauntae but she was sick and then her boys got sick and we’ve been kinda having digestion problems, so instead of going up to see them today we came home. (This way we have a day to recoup since Jon only has Monday off.) It’s nearly 11pm. We left Provo 12:30ish and didn’t get home until 10pm. There is a huge forest fire around the Beaver and Filmore area near I-15, will right on I-15, so we had a huge detour that took forever. It’s still nice to be home. We shared a hotel room with my parents last night and I realized how much they both snore. Of course my mother blames my father and my father blames my mother. All I know is if I wake up and they’re snoring it’s hard to get back to sleep. It was still very nice of them to let us crash with them since Shauntae was sick. 🙁
I’m really bummed that we weren’t able to see Shauntae’s family, but I am happy to be home. Details will come later with a few pictures.  Jon took pictures at the reunion and the ones I took were of the forest fire.

For the fourth we had a couple of engagements.
Jon’s first engagement was to change the oil to his car. So he went to his parents early Wednesday morning. They have a nice flat drive way so he doesn’t have to worry about being run over by a car while changing it on the street.
While he was gone I got the girls and myself ready and once he showered we went to my friend Anna’s house for lunch with her and her husband Kevin.
The girls had a blast playing with the stuffed animals they have and petting the cats. Well, petting the cats for the short moments while they weren’t hiding from the girls.
We had delicious hamburgers, potato salad and I brought a green salad and Creamies. We didn’t get to the Creamies so I just left them there as a thank you. (We had creamies in Ely with Andrea and Brien and so when I saw them on sale for 3 boxes for $5 on my recent Smith’s trip and I couldn’t resist.)
Neither Eden or Lilah ate very well but they did drink all the apple juice they could.
After lunch Anna, Lilah and I went to JoAnn’s to pick out fabric for the dress she’s making me for Carolyn’s wedding. (She’s trying to start her own business on the side for now.)
I think it’ll be very cute so I can’t wait.
Eden was asleep by the time we got to JoAnn’s so Jon just sat in the car with her. We took an hour and a half so I feel bad that he was out there for so long (I love you honey.) but, Eden did sleep the whole time.
After JoAnn’s we went to a party that was for Carolyn’s office. She was kind enough to invite us and JC, who is Naia’s grandfather and knows who I am, was very kind to let us crash it. Lilah went swimming and had a blast and Eden did also. They both were doing very well in the pool and Lilah was getting herself around pretty well with the floaty that Minnie provided, JC’s wife. It was a blast.
We came home and just relaxed. We popped popcorn and later opened the blinds and watched our neighbors fireworks and then we watched them on whatever show that was on PBS. Lilah wanted fireworks but she hates loud noises, so even if we bought quiet ones there was no guarantee our neighbors wouldn’t be lighting off loud ones while we were outside.
It was fun day, but it took it’s toll on Eden.
Warning: very yucky details ahead.

When Jon was leaving for work this morning he went in to find that Eden had vomited in the night sometime. So he came in to me and said “Houston we have a problem” to get me up and in their room. Eden was still asleep and the vomit was dark brown and in large, dried chunks so at first we were confused about what it was, vomit or poop? I’ve heard of the horror stories of children eating their poop and she’s been so much trouble lately that I wouldn’t be surprised if she had. Well, her diaper was clean and at a closer smelling we decided it was vomit. Jon helped me a little with getting Eden out of bed but he had to leave for work so I finished cleaning up and got the girls into a bath. I think she got sick because she only ate some tomato and chips at lunch, accompanied by apple juice and then for dinner she hate a hot dog, no bun, and had gatorade and then popcorn with a little water at our house that night. So with the combination of hardly any water, eating only food that was not the best for her and being outside swimming on a hot day she got sick. She’s been fine today but we stayed home from a birthday party. It too was outside and I just wanted to keep her inside and get her system normal.
So that’s the whole holiday happenings.
It was tons of fun, just a little sad today.

A while back I did a post about Eden sticking bread up her nose. Well she continues to randomly do it if I’m away from the table, meaning I think she’s learned her lesson and stopped but then one day she does it again. One day I had snot and bread coming out of her nose for a while after lunch was over.
Her new favorite thing to do is stick the small rubber bands I use in her hair into her ears. They’re just a little bigger than rubber bands people use for braces. Anyways, a couple days ago I laid Eden down for her nap and when she woke up I could only find one of the two in her hair. It’s pretty normal for them to be missing once she takes them out so I thought nothing of it. Well today on the car ride home she stuck one of her rubber bands in each ear. One was easily retrieved the other was too far back. We got a flashlight and some tweezers and I held Eden down while Jon retrieved the rubber band. He was inspecting her ear and we saw another one way down in her ear. Luckily we were able to also retrieve that one, but it was a little more tricky. I’m just glad that I hadn’t cleaned her ears the other day because I probably would have lodge the rubber band pretty far back unknowingly. I think I may have to use the larger rubber bands or make a rule of taking them out once we’ve been to our destination. She’s good about keeping them in right after I put them in and while we’re out, it’s the ride home that she takes them out and after her naps.
It’s just driving me nuts. She had a time out and a very stern warning but we’ll see if it sticks. From now on I just need to be extra vigilant in watching where she puts small things.

I never had this problem with Lilah.