Goblin Valley

This weekend we ventured out for our first camping trip of the season.  We ended up in Goblin Valley, a place that we have never been.  It turned out to be one of my favorite desert places to camp.  I am not huge into desert camping, but this place had a lot of fun places to hike and cool things to see.  It was a great place for the kids.

Once we arrived and got unpacked, we went to see the goblins.  They were the cool rock formations, and they actually let you run around and climb on them.  The kids thought it was great.  We explored for a while, and eventually found a cool canyon to climb up.  The kids were pretty impressed with themselves, and had a blast.  

Once we got back to camp we prepared for our first freezing night.  This was the part I was dreading.  We had packed well and were very warm, but our air mattress went flat, so Steve and I slept really bad.  I was just glad that we didn't freeze!!  I do however stick to my theory that camping in March is too soon.  From now on we need to stick with Mid April to May!

Obsessed.

Coren is seriously obsessed with this dang DS.  I cannot keep it away from him.  I keep finding him in all of these random places playing it.  He will find somewhere that he thinks I won't see him and just sit there and play it until I find him and make him turn it off.  Then a few minutes later I find him somewhere else with it again.

It is starting to really bug me, but even worse make me all paranoid.  Makenna has been having a hard time with math again.  So, we spent tons of time going over her test, and correcting the ones she missed, and by the end she was burned out and mad.  She hates math.  I went into her room and found her sitting in the closet.  It is weird to find her in the closet.  In fact, I don't think that she has ever gone in there to pout.  BUT, I find her in there and instead of won

dering what is going on the first thing I say is, "You aren't playing the DS are you???"  Then I realize she is not Coren and feel like a big dork.

I don't know what to do with this boy.  I hide it, he finds it.  Coren you are CRAZY!

Oh and speaking of math, I can't speak of math.  Things are bad.  I may be going gray over this one.  I feel bad for Kenna, and I feel bad for me.  I hope it gets better soon!

PaRtY!

This weekend we went to the Mayan for a big celebration of all of the family birthdays we have this month.  We celebrated for Zak, Carson, Alex, and Kyle.  We decided to go to the Mayan because they have people diving off of a waterfall, so it is pretty fun to watch while you eat.

We did learn the hard way that if you watch from the front row... you get wet!

The kids had tons of fun, and it was so nice outside that they were able to play around before and after we ate.





It was a really fun day.  I cannot believe that Carson is going to be 6.  Time is flying!!

Kids

Makenna is such a nice sister.  She loves to find books at school that she thinks the boys would enjoy and then bring them home to read at bedtime.  The boys love to listen to her read because she is very animated and fun.  They spend a lot of time cuddled up in bed listening to her stories, and when they are too wild to listen, she bribes them with treats or the DS.
The DS.  I hate this little thing.  Makenna got it for Christmas, but the boys are obsessed with it.  They love to play games on it, and I am pretty sure they would never put it down if I didn't make them.  There have been times that I have literally had to pry it out of their hands while they freak out.  Makenna hides it from them and they search for it all morning until the find it.  Makenna has recently realized that they are willing to do anything to play it... including her chores.

Mystery Man

12:30 am she looks up to see this site

who was this mystery man

that wakes her on such a peaceful night

She made him stop and wait right there

don't you move

don't you dare

A man smart like this does as told

if she says stop

you wait and ignore the cold

Some minutes passed and she returned

Excited he wondered when

his reward would be learned

She flew back in bed

and took a few pictures

then thanked him, smiled, and laid down her head

Red Ribbon Week

This week at school it was Red Ribbon Week.  The kids are taught all about saying NO to drugs and alcohol.  They started out the week in red.

That night they came home from school telling us all about what they had learned, so we sat them down and I gave them a massive speech on why they should not do drugs or drink, and why they should exercise and eat well to keep their bodies healthy.  It was pretty intense, but I think that they got the point.  I think even Steve was scared.

**Before we started I pulled Steve aside and told him that I wanted to let the kids taste beer.  I figure if they taste it now and see how sick it is, then they would never want it later in life, and they would not be curious about it.  Steve started laughing at me and said, "You want to sit the kids down and tell them not to drink beer, and then give them some for dessert???"  I did.  He thought it would be better to leave one on the counter and let them sneak some.  So I said, "Then we are teaching them it is better to drink it behind our backs!"  We never figured it out, so for now our kids have not had beer.  We think.  I guess it would be bad if at the first AA meeting they said, "My Mom gave me my first beer at 4... it was part of family home evening."

Next was crazy sock and hat day.  Carson wore some of Steve's socks, and Kenna wore some green fuzzy ones.  Carson thought he was so funny!
Last the best was crazy hair day.  They have been looking forward to this all year.    We went with green.  When we pulled up to school Carson hid for a second.  Then I told him I saw another kid with green hair inside the school, so he just jumped right out.  Man, he is easy.


The kids have promised me that they will never do drugs, drink, or be couch potatoes.  I am holding them to it!

Conversation

Carson to Coren:  "My butt itches so bad.  Wait, got it... wait maybe I should wipe it."

Carson comes back:  "That's better!!!  Oh, there it goes again!!!"

Coren: "Maybe a mosquito got in there and bit you all over."

Carson: "No... it's just this one side.  The other side feels GREAT!"

Determination!

Mission: Zit elimination.

Sometimes in life we must take drastic measures.

Swim Meet

Makenna had her very first swim meet, and she did so well.  It is amazing how good she has gotten in just one month.  She competed in three events, the backstroke, breaststroke, and the freestyle.  We were all very proud of her and really impressed.  Watch out Michael Phelps, this girl is next in line for the gold.

Chef boy..

I want to teach all of the kids to cook, however my patience and time often does not allow for it.  Coren seems to be able to help me most often, just because he is home more.  He LOVES to cook, and does a good job at it.  Sunday I let him make some Lasagna pretty much on his own.  He did a good job, even though he didn't like the finished product much.

I think that the best service you can do for your future daughter-in-laws is to teach your boys to cook, and enjoy doing it.  So far, Coren can make a mean pan of Lasagna and cookies!  That is a tasty meal! 

Nightstand.

I really wish that I could say that this drawer was one of the kids drawers, but I can't.  One time when Steve and I were dating I was in his room and I looked in his nightstand.  I was shocked because it was full of food.  Crackers, candy, drinks, and tons of stuff.  I asked him what the deal was and he said that they didn't have stuff like that in the house, so if he put it in the cubbord everyone would eat it.  I guess he resorted to being a closet eater and hiding it in his room.  I thought it was the strangest thing.

The first few years we were married I kept the nightstand free of food, but lately, he has started filling it again.  It usually has a bag of peanut M&M's, or some other snack, but the other day I opened it and it was overflowing.  He recently decided to give up Mtn. Dew so that he could be a runner (OK, I decided for him), and now he eats candy and cookies as if they were going out of style.  I guess he needs sugar somehow.

Another thing that made me laugh was the gun.  Yes, this is a toy gun.  It does shoot little bee-bee's, but why keep it next to the bed.  What is he going to do, chase a robber and shoot little bee-bee's at them?  Maybe he is planning to attack me in my sleep.  Who Knows?  I dare him!

 This is the drawer of a child.

Cat in the hat!

Carson has been learning about Dr. Seuss at school.  They have made books, eaten green stuff, and done all kinds of fun things.  When I saw him walking up in this hat I just had to laugh, he looked so cute!

Gene pool.

I guess that it is in the genes because all of the boys in this house sit the same way.  It makes me laugh.  It seems like the most uncomfortable way to sit, and I think if I sat that way I would not be able to walk when I stood up!  It is so funny to see how some things are just totally genetic!

So sick.

These last few days I have been so sick. I kept thinking that I would get better, and it seems like it will never end. My throat has been so sore that I cannot even swallow or talk. I have basically slept my life away for the last few days.

It is not very often that I get this sick. I think I have had strep twice in my life, both times were when I was pregnant. Today when I was deciding if I should go to the doctor or not I started to remember the time that I was so sick and went to InstaCare.

I was so sick that Steve had to carry me. I went in and the doctor came and did a throat culture. Turned out that I had strep. He gave me two prescriptions, one for the anti-biotic, and the other one was cough syrup. I told him that I didn't have a cough, and asked why I needed the cough syrup. He just said that I should take it to help me sleep. I thought it was weird, but I was too sick to care. When I got home I took the drugs and passed out.

MEAN HUBBY ALERT! Later, hours later, Steve came and woke me up so give me food and a drink. I was pregnant, so I guess he thought I should eat at some point. The sad part is that I do not remember any of what happened after I woke up... BUT...

According to Steve I was acting crazy. He said that I didn't make sense and I couldn't figure out where I was or what I was doing. I was seeing things and trying to grab them. Then, I told him that I had to pee really bad, but that I just wanted to do it in the bed, he had to bed me to use the toilet. He said that he asked me a bunch of questions, and enjoyed laughing at me, making fun of me, and making a fool out of me. Isn't that mean!!! I am also pretty sure that he took advantage of me, but I have no proof. Sick bastard!

Another time when I was also pregnant and sick I could barely move. All I wanted was hot chocolate and Triscuts. I told him that I wanted Triscuts, but that they had to be fresh ones, because I couldn't handle anything stale at a time like this. Minutes later he comes in with my drink and the crackers on a plate. I ate the first Triscut, and I could tell that it was stale. I gave him the look of death, and told him to get me fresh ones. He came back later, and once again, STALE! I was so mad. He thought that it was all in my head, but Hello, I know fresh when I taste it. Then it was time for my hot chocolate. I just wanted a spoonful, so he tries to feed it to me. He was spilling it all over me. I swear, he nearly died that day.

Where was I going with this? Man, these drugs really make you confussed. Anyways, this time around Steve has been on his best behavior (good thing) and I think I am on the road to recovery. At least I hope so.

Tool fire.

This is a crazy story.  Steve was using his skill saw to try and cut through some concrete (which was a bad idea) and it got really hot.  It set it outside to cool off, and the next day it looks like this.

I guess that it decided to catch fire.  I was so glad that he put it outside and not in the garage or his truck.  The crazy thing is that none of us noticed it was on fire.  Scary!