Party, Party, Party

Today was the day that we celebrated Tyler and Megan's birthdays with the extended families.  The day started out a little crazy when we lost our power about 8:30 am and when Tony called the power company they said they expected it back on about 12:30 pm.  So we hung out at home most the morning and then decided to do some shopping.  We hadn't gotten Megan's present so we had to go out before the party.  We started at Big Lots, found nothing.  Then ended up at WalMart and found her a cute seat for her to sit in.  Then we ate at McDonald's and let the kids play on the play land. 

After we got home we were happy to see that the power was back on and we were able to finish getting the house ready for the party.  Mainly the cake still needed to be made, so I totally needed power for that.

People came about two and we chatted for a while before Tyler said, "Let's get this party started" and then pointed to the presents.  It was pretty funny.  So we handed out the presents to Tyler and Megan and Tyler was very nice to let Megan go first.  Megan took her sweet time opening her presents, so after the first one I told Tyler that he could just start opening his gifts.  He really liked all the nice things that he received.  He was so happy to have the things that he asked for plus more.

Megan liked opening her presents.  She got some really cute things and fun toys.  She seemed to really like the little chair we got her and was really cute sitting in her chair opening gifts.  Then it was cake and ice cream time.  Megan did really good with her cake.  She started picking at the frosting right away.  After a couple minutes she started smashing up pretty good and just ended up being a mess.  She seemed to have a good time with it.

Later I met up with the other girls in my family to go to dinner for Betsy's baby shower.  We went to Chili's.  It was really fun to be out with the girls and have a good meal.  After we ate we went back to my parents so she could open her gifts.  Then we all chatted a while longer before I headed home.  It was a busy day, but a really fun one.  Megan's actual birthday is on Tuesday.  Can't believe our baby is almost one.  Oh how time flies.

Respect

As a mother I don't seem to get much respect.  My kids lately have not been very respectful to me.  They talk back, they have attitudes, they tell me that they don't like me, they don't listen...I could go on and on.  I feel like I address this disrespect when it happens with the appropriate time out or privileges taken away, but sometime I just feel like it is not getter any better.
I feel like I am just the "mom" which means that I am the cook, housekeeper, maid, nanny, etc, but not someone who is to be treated as anything better then a servant.  Unfortunately sometimes even Tony makes me feel this way, disrespected.  I don't make the money, therefore I am not as valued as he is.  I just stay home with the kids...any loser could do that.  I feel like Tony gets to go off to work 12 hours a day where he has people tell him all the time how great of worker he is and how happy they are to have him there.  He gets lots of validations for all his hard work.  I don't get anything for all the hard work that I do.  No one is giving me any compliments on how well I do laundry or clean the kitchen.  No one is giving me a high five for bathing my children and brushing their teeth.  I don't get a raise at the end of year for all my hard work.  Now I don't need a medal or a big parade, but what I do need is respect.  Respect from my family.  Respect for being a stay-at-home mom and doing the best job I can to raise my kids and keep my house.  Respect for how I want my house and support to keep it that way.
Don't get me wrong, I like being a stay-at-home mom.  I like that I can raise my children and be here for them no matter what.  I love that I get to see them learn and discover the world.  I love my children and think that they are amazing and brilliant.  But where is the respect?  I would love it if my family would tell me that they thought that I was doing a good job.  That they liked how I kept the house clean and organized.  Hey, even a thank you for working so hard would be great.  I think that is all part of respect.  I don't think that I am asking for too much.     

St. Patty's Day

Today was St. Patrick's Day.  Having it fall on a Sunday made it a little harder to find clothes for the kids to wear to church that had green in them.  But I got lucky and found something that worked for everyone.
We, honestly, have never done anything for St. Patrick's Day.  I wasn't planning on doing anything this year, but then Tyler decided to make a leprechaun trap.  All by himself he got a cup, cut out a paper just bigger then the cup and then taped one end of the paper to the cup.  So how could I not do anything after he did that.  So I went and got some chocolate coins to put in the trap.  Tyler was so happy this morning when he found them.
My sister, Sherri, gave Megan a cute green top that she wore today.  The picture is a little blurry, but Megan was not working with us.  She just wanted down and wanted the bow off.
Tonight we had my sister, Julie, and her family over for dinner.  The kids LOVED having their cousins over and we enjoyed the company.  We really should do stuff like that more often.
Tyler got his first case of strep throat on Friday.  He woke up and told me his mouth hurt so I gave him some water and he said it helped.  He didn't complain again until it was time to go to bed later that night.  So then we had to ask him a lot of follow up question and check out his mouth to fully understand what was wrong.  He had some small red dots on the top back of him mouth.  Tony looked up on-line and it showed us a picture that looked just like Tyler's mouth.  So back to the Urgent Care Tony went.  The doctor said it was strep and got him a prescription for an antibiotic.  Luckily Megan is still on her antibiotic for her ear infection (which her ears still seem to bother her) so she can't get it.  So we have been watching Josh closely and hoping that he wont get it.  I am glad that we caught it quickly and hope that we can all just be healthy for a long, long time.

My Kids are so Smart!

I looked out my window and found Josh up on these two milk crates trying to open the back gate.  He wanted to get his new scooter that we keep in the garage.  I told him to stay there so that I could take his picture.  I thought it was very clever of him to put the crates on top of each other to get high enough to open the gate.  We did have a talk about not doing it anymore.  I like knowing that when he goes in the back yard he is staying in the back yard.
He is loving his new scooter and is amazingly fast on it.  He is very athletic and impresses us often.  He is so funny.  He likes to ride his scooter for a while and then he changes to his bike, then bake to his scooter.  He is fun to watch.

The other day after changing Megan's diaper I gave it to her and told her to go throw it away.  Then she took the diaper right into the kitchen and opened the garbage can lid and dropped it right into the garbage.  She had done it a couple more times since when I have asked her to.  I have found that she is taking some of her own liberties with this new skill and has thrown away shoes, toys, burp cloths, etc.  We really have to watch what is in the garbage before we throw stuff away.   
I am so amazed by how much she understands.  She seems to be so smart already.  She isn't even one yet and she knows so much.  I tell her to go and get her binkey and she totally does.  She amazes me.  She is so daring and is such a good climber.  She loves to climb all over her push car and the stairs.  It totally scares me when she climbs on the cement stairs, but she is doing pretty good and going down them backwards.
Except when Tyler left the gate open to the stairs in our house and she fell down them.  I was freaking out.  She is just so little and she rolled right down the steps.  Tyler was at the bottom of the stairs and totally caught her.  I thought that Tyler was shutting the gate when I went to go make sure it was shut correctly and that is when I was too late and saw her tumbling down the stairs.  Tyler said he was going to ask for Tony's help with the gate (Tony was down stairs), but Megan was too fast and followed Tyler.  Poor Tyler felt so bad.  But we talked about how important it is to make sure the gate is ALWAYS closed and then I told him I was very proud of him for catching his sister.  He was very brave and acted quickly to scoop her right up.  Megan was totally fine.  Didn't even cry for very long and only had a little bump on her head.  She is one tough cookie!

Tyler's 6th Birthday

Tyler turned 6 today.  Tony and I can't believe it.  We asked him if he wanted to go out to dinner tonight for his birthday and he told us he just wanted to stay home and eat meatballs and rice.  So that is what we did.  He saw the carrot cake cupcakes last time we were at Costco and said that is what he wanted for his birthday.  Tony picked them up after work and we sang Happy Birthday to him then ate them.

After our cake we asked Tyler if he wanted to open one present today or wait to open them when we have the family party.  He wanted to open one today, so we got the big one out and let him open it.  Megan and Josh helped Tyler open the present.  Both Tyler and Josh were really excited to see the marble set and we plan to set it up this weekend.
Some things about Tyler:

• He likes school.  He really likes Math and is quite good at it.  He is learning to read and it doing pretty good.  
• He loves to ride his bike and be active.  He still likes to have races in the front yard and is a very fast runner.  
• He likes to play the computer and the Wii.  He is getting better at both.
• He loves Megan and plays so well with her.  He is such a big helper with her and with Josh (when they aren't fighting).
• He is very good at eating his fruits and veggies.  He isn't too picky.
• Although sometimes he can be very dramatic and emotional, he is a great kid.  
• He loves to give me hugs and kisses all day long.  He tells me that he loves me many times a day as well.  What could be better then that!
• We love out Tyler very much and feel very blessed to have him in our lives.

Loving the Sun

We were outside again today enjoying the sunshine in our yard.  I set up our chairs for Megan and I to watch the boys ride their bikes and scooters.  I got to sit a little bit, but Megan kept me up and going with all her exploring.
Tyler and Josh went to Ray's house to get a treat and they got one for Megan too.  She loved the Dum Dum and had a good time eating it all by her self...Koda enjoyed watching her eat it.  She got nice and sticky and blue.  To be honest I was glad when she was done with it.
Tyler and Josh are still loving the weather, well we all are.  I love that we are not inside watching the television and that we are all out getting sun and exercise.  It is suppose to just get nicer and warmer all week so we are all happy with that.

I have already started getting my list together of all the yard work that I would like to get done this weekend.  Tony has Friday off so we can get a good start on the weekend.  It is sad, but I kind of like yard work.  I like having our home and yard look nice.  I love flowers and plants, even though I know nothing about them.  So it is a lot of experimental gardening at our house.  We don't mind though because it's mainly about the family time that our yard gives us.

This Girl is Trouble

Yesterday Megan figured out how to crawl all the way out the dog door.  Until now she would just kind of play with the flap, but the boys were outside playing and she wanted to join them.
My main concern would be if I am in the other room and she just decides to go outside by herself.  Luckily she hasn't done that yet.

Then this morning she was in the bedroom playing and she figured out how to open the bottom drawer (luckily it was empty) and climbed right in with her bucket.  She is too cute for words and definitely keeps me on my toes.

Spring Is In The Air

 The weather has been a lot nicer the past couple of days and my kids have LOVED it.  It has been all bikes and scooters and running around outside.  Even Megan has cabin fever and is enjoying walking around outside.  Megan really likes riding around in the little car playing with the horn that keeps falling out.

I have been letting Tyler and Josh ride in circles around our house while I push Megan in the little car.  It works out pretty good because we start on the drive way and then take our side walk around by the house, to the street and then just follow the gutter back around to our drive way and start again.  I like this because the boys aren't in the street for too much of the time.  Tyler only watches for cars about half the time and Josh almost never, so it is scary to have them in the street.  It is times like these that I really wish that we had sidewalks.  
Tyler told me tonight while I was putting him and Josh to bed that "he knew why Jesus made him and Joshy more badder." I asked why and he responded "so that you can learn more patience."  Oh so true.  I then told him that they should just be good.
Lately I have been trying really hard to be more patient with my kids.  Trying to not yell as much or over react to all their shenanigans.  So I have been praying extra hard for help with this and it does seem like when you ask Heavenly Father for help with patience he gives you experiences to test your patience.  It is hard, but I am committed to keep trying to be better.  Better for my kids and Tony.  I don't want to be that mom that is always freaking out and/or yelling.  It is definitely a work in progress.  I try to remind myself that they are just kids and I need to chill out...that seems to help.

State DECA Competition

On Thursday after I dropped off the kids to Margie, I headed up to Ogden.  The competition was in Layton, but I figured since I was going to be so close to Tony's work that I would go and visit him.  It was fun to see him, the machines, and the missionaries.  The missionaries are always so nice.
After being there for a while I decided I had better let Tony work and headed back to Layton to meet up with Julie.  I found her quickly and we headed to get her students their room keys.  After she got the rooms all worked out we decided to go get our stuff out of our cars and then we went to get something to eat.  We knew we would be eating dinner in a couple hours so we just wanted a little dessert.
We ended up at Red Robin.  We ordered a dessert to share, but then fries sounded good too...so we ate them too.  It was yummy.  After that we headed back to the hotel and hung out before dinner.  We went to dinner with the group from her school.  They had about 40 students, 3 teachers, me and another teachers family.  We had a good time chatting with the other adults and decided that because we totally ruined our appetite before, we would just shared a dinner (we didn't even finish that).
My dad had just gotten into his room while we were at dinner, so Julie and I went to visit with him.  It was fun just chatting in his hotel room.  He was the announcer at the awards ceremony and the mini awards were at eight the next morning, so they got him a room.
Julie had to do room checks at 11:00 pm so after that we were able to go to sleep.  Julie had to be down at seven the next morning, so we woke up early to get ready.  We had some breakfast and then got ready to go to the mini awards to find out which of her kids made it to the finials.
I had signed up to be a judge, but they had a lot of judges come so I was asked to listen to the presentations of the student from my sisters school.  So that is what I did.  I listened, asked questions and gave my suggestions for improvement.  I knew a couple of the other advisers from other schools, so it was fun to chat with them.  My sister's students did really good and more then half of them qualified to go to Nationals.  It was fun to be involved and to hang out with Julie and my dad.  I left right before the finial awards ceremony.  Tony left work right before me and we chatted all the way home.  It was a good time and I am glad that I was able to go.  I am very thankful to Margie for watching my kids while Tony was at work and for always being so willing to help us.  Also thankful to Tony for having a good attitude about me doing DECA things with my sister.  I enjoy feeling involved and part of  a team.

Home Sweet Home = FLU

All my boys love the beach, even Tony.  They had a great time playing in the sand, making sand castles, and getting wet.  It wasn't a very warm day, but they didn't seem to care.  The boys started out just playing in the sand but slowly started playing more in the water.  A big wave came and knocked Tyler down, so that helped him get started in the water.  Tyler and Grandma were able to find a bunch of different sand shells on the beach and they are his treasure.  I am so glad that they were able to go and have a good time playing in the sand and sun.  Megan stayed back at the hotel with me.  It worked out pretty good because she would have just wanted to eat the sand and she was able to play in the hotel and then had a good nap.  Margie was super awesome and took some pictures of the boys at the beach for me.  It was so fun to see them having such a good time.  I love them boys.

We made it home last Sunday with little to no drama, which was very nice.  We drove to St. George on Saturday and made it there without any problems.  The weather was nice and so was the traffic.  The kids did really good in the car and I was feeling okay.  My fever wasn't as bad and I no longer had the body aches and hot/cold chills.  We first went to Nana and Papa's house and hung out for a little while before going over to the hotel.  Then we went and got into the hotel and took the kids swimming.  They all LOVE to go swimming and are like little fish in the pool.  Megan was not feeling good and spent the whole time with her head on our shoulders.  Which was fine with me since I was still sick.  Megan and I just laid low.  Josh is a mad man in the water.  No fear at all.  Tony was throwing him up so high and having him do flips, he was loving it.  Tyler also enjoyed floating around and doing cannon balls into the pool.
After dragging the boys out of the pool we got changed and headed back to Nana and Papa's to have some yummy dinner.  We really enjoyed eating a home cooked meal.  After dinner Tony and his mom started fixing their coffee table and they needed some extra screws, so we all headed out.  Tony took the kids and me back to the hotel to get ready for bed.  When we got to the hotel all the power was out in that neighborhood, so we all went to the hard ware store.  They had a back-up power source, so they were still open.  By the time we finished at the store, the power was back on at the hotel.  Tony helped me get he kids ready for bed and then went with his mom to go fix the table.  Then he got back and we all crashed.
Sunday we decided not to go to church.  I was still sick, Megan was fussy and we just wanted to get home.  A storm had come through that morning so we didn't want to leave too early or too late.  We checked out after breakfast and went back to Nana and Papa's to pick up Margie.  It was another good day of driving.  We had some snow at times, but for the most part the roads were clear.  I felt a little better, but still had a lot of coughing.  Megan started showing more signs of being sick, so that really sucked.  We got to Tony's parents house in good time and packed up our car and headed home.  It was nice to be back.  It is always a lot of work unpacking and getting things back to normal, even harder when you are sick.
Later that evening we decided that Megan should be looked at and so Tony took her to the InstaCare.  The doctor said he didn't think she had the flu, but they tested her anyway.  For some dumb reason they couldn't test it there so they had to send it out for the results.  They didn't call us back until 5:00 pm the next day to say she did test positive for Influenza A and gave us a prescription for Tamaflu.  I was so mad that it took them so long to call back, she could have been on the medicine a whole day sooner...and with the flu the earlier you take the meds the better.  Then the kicker was that our insurance only covered like $25 of the prescription so it cost us over $100.
Tony, Tyler, and Josh still hadn't shown any symptoms of the flu so I was hoping it would stay like that...that is until Tyler came home from school on Monday with a fever and runny nose.  So we decided to watch it to see if it got worse.  Tuesday he still had the fever so after dinner Tony took Tyler into the pediatricians office and got him tested.  They, of course, could get the results immediately and Tyler tested positive fore Influenza B.  So then he needed Tamaflu.  Awesome, $100 more dollars gone (good thing we have a flex spending account).
Wednesday and Thursday come around and Josh still doesn't show any symptoms, so I was really happy about that.  I decided to just keep Tyler home for the whole week from school just to be safe that he wouldn't give it to any other kids.
I took the kids over to Tony's parents on Thursday afternoon so that I could go and help my sister with the state DECA competition.  Tony met up with them after work and then they all spent the night there.  Then the kids stayed there while Tony was at work on Friday and he picked them up afterwords.  After we had some dinner that night, I noticed that Josh was sniffing and he felt warm.  So we decided we had better take him in too.  So Tony to him to the Urgent Care and the doctor just decided to treat him for the flu, he didn't even test him.  He said that since the rest of us had it, that he was sure that what was wrong with him and gave us yet another prescription for Tamaflu.  He did let us know that one of Josh's ear tubs is out and the other is almost out.  Good to know.  Josh really doesn't act sick at all and didn't feel too warm today.  He has gotten the medicine the quickest out of everyone, so maybe he will only have a mild case (like Tyler).  I think Tony said that the flu has costed us about $500 all together.  That is just nuts. 
I am feeling tons better but I still have a cough and I get light headed really easily.  Megan seems to be doing better.  She wasn't as fussy today.  She almost never coughs, but still has a very active runny nose.  Tyler has had it the easiest so far.  He has a little cough, but that seems to be the only symptom he still has.  Josh seems to have just a low grade fever and really not much more.  He'll sneeze every now and then, but doesn't really have a cough (at least not yet).  I am still hoping and praying that Tony doesn't get it.  He seems to be good so far, but I thought Josh had dodged the bullet.  It is funny how long it can take for an illness to manifest its self.  I will be so glad when we are all healthy again and the weather is warmer.  Bring on spring time, we are ready.