Memorial Day 2008 (2)

Memorial Day 2008

Jacob is so not surprised! ;)

Jacob and I have been working on finishing the basement. When Jacob was spray painting the basement, he painted the kitchenette the regular tan that went on all the other walls. Then we decided it would be fun to have the kitchenette and the bathroom be a different color. We chose a light peachy color for the kitchenette (don't worry I think it turned out good, plus it matches well with the hall paint), the bathroom is a dark green. I think it may be a little too dark for a basement, but Jacob insists it looks good. (Really, I just think he doesn't want to repaint it. ;) )

Yesterday Jacob painted the kitchenette while I painted the bathroom. Because the kitchenette had already been painted tan and the peach color is light it definitely needed a second coat of paint. Jacob planned on doing the second coat of paint today along with ward fellowshipping visits, home teaching, writing a paper for his masters program, and reading a hefty 30 page article for class. Oh and did I mention he gets home from work at about 6:30 pm. So poor guy, had his plate overloaded. So I thought I would help lighten the load for him.

So while Jacob was at work, I put on the second coat of paint in the kitchenette. I didn't tell Jacob because I wanted him to be surprised. When Jake got back from all his church stuff, I went along with him as he went downstairs to paint. I was waiting on the edge of my seat to hear his reaction. I had visions of him being so happy and feeling so lucky to have such a sweet thoughtful wife. However, I was a bit disappointed when I heard, "wow, I did a better job than I thought. I don't know if I need to do a second coat after all."

Needless, to say it was pretty anti-climatic when I had to tell Jacob that I already did the second coat of paint.

Aliece Graduates from Kindergarten

Today was a very big day for Aliece. This morning, shortly after school started, we were invited to the elementary school to attend the 2008 Kindergarten Graduation.

Aliece prepared all week for this momentous occasion. She knew exactly what dress she was going to wear. She wanted her hair in a braided pony tail. She wore a pearl-like necklace. Finally, she wanted to make sure that we were going to be there.

Aliece was so cute at the graduation. She would sit perfectly still and quiet - she knew that this was an important day! She had one struggle that she had to deal with throughout the entire 30 minute program, however. Her poor little graduation cap would not stay on her head with her hair in a braid. She would be sitting quietly only to turn her head and have her cap fall off. She dealt with it well through their performance - holding to her head when it would slip, or quickly picking it up and placing it on her head when it would fall off. Nonetheless, she kept her smile and loved every minute of the ceremony.

I have condensed the half hour program into the following small three minute video:

mowing sucsess

Yesterday I mowed the front, back and side!! Man, I was exausted!! But I still cant wait till next time!!
Love ya all!!
A's

Dreaming Big

Yesterday, Fin and Jace were dressed up on some baby Yankee garb that they received from Grandma & Grandpa Reed when they were first born. Amber, Michelle, and I snapped some pictures of them in their uniforms. It was funny trying to get both of them to smile while we were snapping pictures. One would be crying while the other one would be smiling big. Then, the roles would reverse. One would be happy and the other one would be distraught. We finally caught a few fun pictures.

The final picture here is of the two boys dreaming of their futures in Yankee Stadium.

Thai Cookoff

Yesterday, Amber and Michelle spent all afternoon in the kitchen. They invited one of our neighbors over who loves Thai food. Michelle acted as the cooking show host - assisting the others in chopping, mixing, and cooking up a huge variety of Thai cuisine.

By the time dinner rolled around, we all sat at a very full table of food. We all stuffed ourselves - the food was excellent.

We appreciated all the work Amber and Michelle went through to tantalize our tastebuds.

Aylee's Lawn Expertise Expands

Aylee asked if she could take on more of our lawn mowing needs at the house. For the past year, I have mowed the front yard and outlined the back yard getting it all prepped for her to do the straight, easier mowing.

She asked if I couldn't try her out on doing everything. We tried it out and she was able to do a really good job. She mowed around taller sprinkler heads and didn't run over any of Amber's plants.

The promotion also came with a pay increase (Aylee negotiated that part of the bargain early in our talks). She gets a $2.00 more every time she mows the lawn, and I get a mostly hands-off mowing experience!

Good Job Aylee!

Memorial Cakes

Amber and Michelle spent a good chunk of this morning in a cake decorating frenzy. Amber took advantage of Michelle's artistic talents and asked her to work with her on decorating a couple of cakes for the holiday today.

We experimented with some frosting colors and finally got what they wanted. They ended up doing one cake as an American Flag (which was the cake we ate tonight for FHE). The other cake was of a rocket hurtling through space.

Here are the finished products:

Challenges with Inventive Minds

I have often read about the trouble famous inventors caused when they were children. Their inquisitive minds often led them to dismantling household items often to the point of destruction. Lately, we have been experiencing many of the same challenges with our inventive son, Johnathan.

The other day, Aylee asked if she could take apart an old cell phone. I told her yes. Johnathan got excited seeing Aylee looking into the underbelly of the phone and it has been as if we unleashed a curious beast.

Later that day, while Aylee was dissecting her phone, I caught Johnathan with a screw driver starting to tear apart our doorbell. I explained to him that he needed to get permission on those types of things and that the doorbell was off limits.

Well, today, when I got out of the shower, I found the scattered remains of one of our Nintendo 64's rumble packs It is an attachment that makes the joystick shake when you get hit in the game. I queried Johnny and he said that he wanted to see how it worked. However, he took it apart to the point that it would have taken me a long time to figure out how to get it all back together - including soldering wires to the right spot.

We had another talk and I hope he understands that he just can't dissect anything that looks cool to him. I hope this conversation sticks a little bit better than the last!

Gut Wrenching Thought

The other night, Amber went into Aliece and Alayna's room after bedtime. She found Alayna, standing in her window sill of her second story bedroom. The window was wide open and she was leaning against the screen to get a better view of the neighborhood. Had the screen popped out of the window, Alayna most certainly would have tumbled the two stories only to land on our cement patio.

I couldn't sleep with visions of seeing Alayna falling through that window. The very next day I looked for a window lock and installed it on their bedroom window so that it will only open up a few inches.

Man! The things kids think up that adults are oblivious to!

7 Miler with the Kids

Last night, Amber, Michelle and I watched National Treasure 2 - The Book of Secrets. It was pretty great. The movie needed to be returned today, so after a bunch of chores and work in the yard, Aylee, Johnathan, and I hopped on our bikes and made the seven mile round trip to the nearby Macey's Grocery store to return the DVD.



The bike ride went very well. I think it is the farthest that I have taken either one of the kids (though Aylee may have gone farther with someone else - not sure). Johnathan's seat is going to need to be raised some more - that kid just keeps growing. We made the trip in a half an hour each way. I was worried how the kids would do in the narrow tunnels underneath bridges and freeways, but they did remarkably well. They are setting themselves up for some more biking adventures if they keep this up.



Once at Macey's Grocery store, we went to the deli and ordered small ice cream cones. The cones were massive for a 51 cent small order, but they were good. We sat for about 20 minutes licking our ice cream and chatting.

It sure was a fun way to return our rented DVD.

Two Little Buddies

On Wednesday of this week, Michelle Reed (Reed's wife) and their son, Fin (Verne Franklin Reed III) flew down to Provo to stay with us for a while. We've had a great time visiting and watching Fin and Jace interact and play together.



Both Jace and Fin are just two months apart. Those two months however, still put them at different levels of physical capabilities. The fin crawls like a maniac. If he can get anywhere fast. Not only that, but he is also cruising along furniture. He will easily pull himself up to a bench or a couch and walk along it. Jace, however, is still working on the crawling aspect. He gets himself into a crawling position all the time. He knows that there is something that he supposed to do to start moving. He will rock back and forth trying to get those legs and arms to work together. He'll often get a few inches and then revert back to scooting or rolling around to get what he wants to get.



Amber went to the store and bought a child gate. After seeing how quickly fan can crawl around the house, we thought it might be nice to have a gate to block off certain portions of the house to keep him and Jace compartmentalized. We know that within just a month or two you will be Jace that we need to keep behind that gate, so was a worthwhile purchase.



Jace is not the only person learning new things from his cousin. From this picture, we see that Jace is teaching Fin how to operate a standard desktop computer.



All of this playing and sharing of information is hard work. Here is Jace and Fin having a coffee break after a long hard day of play.

May Snow?

When we purchased our house a couple of years ago, we were very excited about all the trees in the front yard. Little did we know, however, that one of the byproducts of these trees was a plague of cotton in the month of May. I guess these trees were not quite that simple Quaken Aspen variety that I grew up with in the nearby hills of Arbon Valley. These trees have a strain of cottonwood in them.

During the beginning or middle of May, Cotton begins to fill the air. It is hard to walk outside and not get caught and particles in your nose and in your lungs. It does wonders for the allergies. Another problem with the cotton is that if you leave the door open to the house for any small duration of time, the airborne cotton loves to make its way into the house onto the floor and carpet. It is always a mess to clean up. If you walk in it it will cling to your shoes and then when you walk on the carpet it sticks to the carpet.

Last Sunday I took this picture of the cotton in our yard. The blanket of cotton looked just like a new fresh blanket of snow. I try to rake it up earlier this week. However, it's very hard to rake cotton. It tends to ball up and stay in the grass rather than gather on your rake.

On Tuesday night, however, we had a Pacific storm rolling in. Part of that storm was high gusts of wind during the night. Ever since that windstorm, we have not seen any more cotton flying in the air. I am hoping that the wind has blown away any leftover cotton blossoms on our trees. Luckily, the cotton season only lasts a week to 10 days. Other than that we still get to enjoy the shade of the trees provide in front of our home. I guess there will always be trade-offs between the plants we love and their byproducts that they produce.

Everyone Has an Office

The other day I came home from work to find my house full of makeshift offices for each other the three oldest children. I guess they have all already chosen their careers for their lives.



Aliece had moved all the kitchen barstools around into a makeshift desk. Upon the desk she had various tends, pencils, papers, and let us not forget if you small vases of flowers. She was busy illustrating pages in a book that she had stapled together. With the pictures in her book, she was also creating a very skillful story. The book was actually very well done. It is one of those books that Amber plans on saving for lease to look at years from now.



Aylee's desk was at the piano. She was sitting in a plastic chair and was using the piano bench as her desk. She had a plastic Lego case but was serving as her laptop. She had some advertisements telling people that if they had problems they could come to her at the FBI. She was available for consultations to help crack codes or solve problems.



John had his office in his bedroom on the floor in front of his large plastic Lego container. Of course, John was doing what he does best -- -- building things. He is already convinced that he is going to be a builder or an inventor when he grows up. That boy is always experimenting and inventing things. He is simply amazing.

Final Amelia Earhart Choir Performance

This is the time of year when nearly every day our kids have some sort of performance, field trip, graduation ceremony. Last week, the Amelia Earhart choir made its last performance for 2008. For our family, this is the last performance that we will have with the choir and due to the new school being built in our neighborhood.

Amber played beautifully for the choir and the kids his voices sounded supreme. I sat in the audience with Aliece and Alayna and Jace. Our little kids did very well sitting still and listening to the performance. Aliece, of course, was very excited about the whole performance. I didn't even know that she had the skill, but while the kids were singing Alyce could hardly contain her excitement. She put her fingers up to her lips and started to whistle for the kids. I looked over at her. It was funny to see this little six year old putting her fingers in her mouth and whistling with excitement. I tried to explain to her that she needed to stop whistling. She said, well can I've whistle after the song is over? I then explained to her that whistling at a choir concert was not appropriate ever. It was so funny to see her get so excited over the performance.

The choir teacher was very emotional over the performance. She will be losing about two thirds of the choir with the new school. Not only that, but she will also be losing her star piano players. Amber and her friend Rebecca have been playing for the choir for the last few years while their kids have been in the choir. It will be interesting to see if our new school will have a choir or not.

"Flipping" Out

A few weeks ago, Johnathan and Aylee had an end-of-class gymnastics performance for all of the parents. The Provo Parks and Recreation hosted several gymnastics classes over the spring. Aylee and John both participated and enjoyed learning some of the basics of gymnastics.

I made a video of segments of their performance for your viewing pleasure. If you cannot see the video below, click HERE.

Disneyworld Welcomes Amber - Congrats!

If you all go to the fitness site: http://andersenranch.abilityweb.us/fitness.php you will notice that Amber is the first one of the group to finish the Andersen Spring Fitness Challenge by making it to Disney World in Florida! Along the way Amber has shed a ton of pounds as well as several inches. Congrats to Amber for her arrival!

Hiking the Y

I started up my last class this weekend. To the kids, this meant that on Saturday I would get to rip off a chain that is the countdown until I finish my MBA. Every link I pull off on Saturday afternoon after class represents one more weekend down. The link I tear off has an activity written on it along with a countdown. This one said "Hiking the Y" and "4 more Weekends!" I was excited about the "four more weekends" and the kids were excited about the hiking.

Amber had prepared some gear, along with borrowing a hiking backpack baby carrier. I grabbed a GPS and some hiking shoes and away we went. Jace did very well nestled in the backpack carried which I wore during the hike.



We had a great time starting up the mountain. During the hike we probably passed some 50 other people making the ascent or just coming down from the hike. We passed two sets of people that we knew from our neighborhood that had moved out in previous years. One of them was a webelos leader in his new ward and he had a handful of cub scouts with him. The other was a family that moved out three or four years ago. We were lucky to meet up with them because they were moving to Denver in a week to start a new job. It is pretty fun to see who you can meet when you hike the Y!


On one of the 14 marker posts up the mountain, we stopped and grabbed a photo of our family on the trail. The view of Provo was already starting to look pretty impressive. The weather was perfect for a hike and the kids were energetic!



As we neared the trail split where you decide if you hike will end at the bottom of the Y or at the top of the Y, we asked the kids which end they wanted to take. They all were enthusiastic about going to the top of the Y, so we altered course and headed up the higher trail.

Aliece was full of energy and ran on up ahead of all of us. She was the first one to make it to the top. She was pretty proud that she was the first one.



Once at the top we had a brief snack, chatted, and then called Jen to sing happy birthday and let her know where we were at (Jen has made this hike with us several times when she lived in Provo). We also had a girl take a picture of our family sitting at the top.

I had my GPS with me and had tracked the hike. Here are the stats for going up to the Y: We had climbed 1,100 feet in just over one hour of our adventure. Of that hour, we were moving 40 minutes of the time and stopped for pictures and breaks for 20 minutes. Our moving average was 1.7 miles per hour. Our walking distance was nearly exactly a mile.

On our way down, we stopped at a geocache that was located near the top of the Y. We let the kids take a look at it, but we didn't have anything to trade, so we just put it back. As we neared the trail split where we had originally turned to go to the upper part of the Y, Aliece pleaded that we take the other trail and visit the bottom of the Y. After much persuasion, we all agreed and made that short trek.

After visiting the bottom of the Y, we headed back down to the van. On our way down, we stopped and took a picture for a family that had eight children. Their oldest was 11 years old. They had a lot of very young kids. It was pretty cool to see a family that size doing the activity together. They explained to us that they made it a ritual every year.

Near the end of our trip, I continued to carry Jace in the back carrier. He had been very quiet and content the entire time. As we were walking Amber stopped and asked the kids to be quiet to see if they heard something. The mountain was quiet as we all listened. While we were listening I heard a faint hiss. I thought that was what Amber was pointing our attention to. I listened again and the hiss was a little louder. Amber asked, "What is that?" Again, I thought she was talking about the hissing sound. I listened more intently wondering if it were a snake, or an upset badger. All of the sudden the hiss was even louder, but this time it seemed to be right behind me. Suprised, I yelled and started running (I was behind everyone) and yelling "let's go!" Amber and the kids just looked at me with confusion. I stopped and said, "didn't you hear the hissing?" They had no clue what I was talking about. I asked Amber what she was listening to and she said, "it is the Carrillon Bells at BYU - they are playing a song". Then I realized what I had heard, and why no one else had heard it. Jace, who was riding on my back had has head propped in a position where his breathing was up against his blanket right behind my neck. The hissing sound I heard was Jace breathing with a snotty nose through his blanket. We all had a good laugh about it.

Caught by the Bishop

Last Saturday Jake and I attended the closing social of the BYU singles ward that we are now in. We played human Fooseball (sp?) and ate some good food. It was a lot of fun. To play human fooseball all players hold onto a pvc pipe in a line. Then set it up like it would be on a real fooseball table. One row is one team the next row must be players from the other team, etc. Middle rows have about five players on a pipe while the last defensive line near the goal has only three players. Then comes the goalie who does not have a pipe. Players cannot let go of the pipe to get the ball. It is really quite comical to see one person on the end of the pipe try to go for the ball and yank the rest of the players hanging onto the pipe along. We played with 2 big soft bouncy balls so no one would get hurt, as players are actually quite close to each other.

Anyways, Jake gave up his spot playing fooseball to give me a chance at it. I was having a great time. Meanwhile the food came out and some of the people started eating. Not having anything else to do, Jake joined the food line. Meanwhile I am still having the time of my life playing fooseball. Jake looks around for a place to sit and every table has about three girls sitting at it. (This ward really is about 3 girls for every guy). Of course Jake doesn't want to be antisocial and sit by himself. He also doesn't want to make the girls feel like poison by studiously avoiding them. So he sits down at a table of about 3 girls. Meanwhile I am still oblivious to the situation and continue playing. Before Jake knows it the rest of the table fills up with girls and he is now surrounded with a bevy of single girls and his wife is nowhere to be seen. Jake was already feeling a bit awkward when the Bishop comes up and asks Jake if we (Jake and I) always eat separately. Busted! The worst thing is Jake was completely innocent. Should he have sat down by himself? I guess I am going to have to be more aware of how things look. I hate that!

The snake that haunts the Y

We hiked the Y yesterday and when we where coming down, mom said, " Shhhhh. I here something. " All of the sudden dad started panicking. Then he said, "What! Huh! Oh." He said that
he had heard a hissing sound over by us. Then he heard it right next to him! Thats when he started panicking! He said that then he realized it was just Jace. When he was panicking we all started laughing because we new that there wasn't anything there.
Well, got to go before dad peaks over my story and deletes it. :)

I'll get back with you soon!
A's

Spy club

On Wensday, I went to my friends house. There was another girl coming over too. Her name was Kasidy. We made up a spy club and awsome fort! Carmen and Junnie are our masters we are soposed to fight Dr. Doom. Our mission was to sneak up Honey Chex cereal. When they took a handful to eat I refused. They thought it was a good idea. So now we sneak stuff up and take it to our fort and then we put it back. I can't wait till next time.

More Bike Woes

When I got back from Branding on Saturday night, my neighbor across the street was outside and called me over. He told me that on Saturday morning early at 1:05 am he came out of his house and there were some guys standing around my bike messing with the wiring. He yelled at them and then called the cops. He told me that he was an ex law enforcement worker. He chewed me out for not locking the handlebars. I didn't tell him that the wheel lock no longer works from when it got stolen last. So yesterday between finals and studying, I bought some chain and a lock and locked it up last night.

Family-- Branding

In reference to the branding video, this is why we still have the cows. Every year I begin to wonder if we should sell them but days like Saturday make it all worth the work and frustrations.
Dad

Branding 2008

We had a great, albeit a quick, weekend in Arbon. Thanks to Mom and Dad for working around (and with) the bedroom remodel project, and all the people. It was once again a great experience.

Thanks to everyone that pitched in with the painting project - especially Jen and Amber for all your planning and work throughout it all.

I created a quick video last night for our kids that was mostly just a compilation of the pictures I got from Troy and Jen & Dave. I also threw in some of the video clips from people too.

It is nothing fancy or artsy like Joe does, but I thought you would all like to see them.

For those of you reading this in email, you can click the following link instead of watching it directly HERE.

My lucky guess

I was playing Guess Who with Nae. Almost every time she would have one guy left and I would have three. I would take a daring and she would throw down her card meaning I had won!
Well bye!
A's

Aylee Performs

Last night Aylee's piano teacher held a Piano recital at a neighboring church.

This first video is of Aylee's first of three pieces.
(If you can't see the video, click here.)


This second video is of Aylee and Amber's duet together.
(If you can't see the video, click here.)


Aylee did a terrific job. It is fun to see her get so good at playing the piano!

Peek-a-boo with Jace

Little Jace has sure come a long way after our trip to Spokane. The little guy now rolls around everywhere, claps his hands, and now plays Peek-a-boo.

For those that can't see the video here in this blog post, click HERE.

A Splenda Diet

Amber and I have been doing pretty well on our diets. We have both plateaued near our low points, but we are not giving up.

The other day, Amber decided to make some brownies. She had been craving them all day long and so she scoured the internet for a magic recipe that would be sugar free. After about 20 minutes of the fruitless attempt, Amber resigned to going back to a traditional recipe.

However, not to totally wreck her carb-protein balance, Amber decided to halve the sugar requirements for the recipe and replace it with the sugar substitute, Splenda.

We all sat in the kitchen and eagerly awaited the soon to be finished brownies as the smell of the chocolate dish floated through the house.

When the time came to remove them from the oven, there was a gasp and a cry of despair from Amber's lips. The brownies were flat and hard. We tried the crisp oddity, but it just didn't do it for us - the taste just wasn't there.



Oh, well, I guess Splenda did its job, at the end of the day, we didn't eat any brownies!

Del Monte

I won tickets to a Dierks Bentley concert in Salt Lake City for last saturday. So we went to the concert. It was really fun. He has a lot more great songs that I had realized.
Today I got a call from Del Monte. They are going do a conference call with me tomorrow at 10:00 to discuss a future position with them. It looks like I will be graduating in July so it looks like I may end up in California with Del Monte. I will find out more information tomorrow.

Trip to Temple Square

We had stake conference this weekend. Amber, being the true Mother in Israel, suggested that we take advantage of the lack of many Sunday meetings and take the kids up to Temple Square. Our kids have spent their entire lives in Provo, UT and have never visited temple square when there was good weather. We have only managed to take them to the Mormon Mecca during cold, stormy winter nights when they are too cold and tired to really care.

We spent all afternoon doing tours, watching little video clips, etc. The kids really enjoyed themselves.

Here are a few pictures of the activity.

Here are the kids taking a brief break for a quick snack of cheese and crackers.

These last two pictures are of the kids at the Christus statue.

Paranoid?

Over the past few days, Alayna has been sick with the touch of the flu or something.  She has become used to carrying around a "throw up bowl" as her best friend.  She has used her container friend quite a bit. 

Yesterday, Alayna started to perk up by afternoon.  She was still very tired and slept most of the day, but her fever was gone and she appeared more normal.

As Amber and I headed off to bed, we thought we would check on her.  We found her throw up bowl positioned in an interesting way - is she paranoid that diarrhea will be the next thing to set in?  If so, I guess she is prepared!

Another update

I guess yesterday or the day before Melinda and Ken Cambell's son Jeff and his wife lost a little boy. I think he was probably a little older than Chloe. I haven't heard many details but he was certainly a cute little boy. Jeff Helps his Dad farm out here in Arbon.

I also heard today that Matt and Vennesa Bird are going to have TWINS. They currently have 3 children. I think the oldest is about 12 and the youngest is about 3 yrs old.
FUN FUN.
mom

Jace & Fin

In our weekend jaunt to Spokane, Jace got a lot of face time with his two-month-senior cousin, Fin. Ann and Verne were babysitting Fin while Michelle was off to Singapore to catch a glimpse of her Navy Hero.

Fin and Jace were actually really good together. Fin was not overly aggressive. He and Jace would touch each other's face or hands, but that was about it. They would often play side by side during our visit.

Fin still dominates Jace physically and mobility-wise. But they really seemed to enjoy each other - as much as could be expected for seven and nine month olds.

There was one time that Fin actually sat in Jace's lap for some time while they played. Jace was just fine with that.

It will be interesting to see how these two grow up - if they are very close as two boys that are about the same age. With their upbringing, though, Jace will probably be a computer geek with a love sci-fi action while Fin will be a sports star and all-time school jock. Who knows, maybe they will make a fantastic duo!

UPDATES

OOPS Didn't mean to send that first blog off.
I decided that I would send a blog giving you some updates of people you know. It seems I somehow forget to tell my children information that they would be interested in. I am trying to do better.
MOM

Kandace & Troy's little boy Chase (3 yrs. old) was very sick with a temp. of 104 1/2 and vomiting and extreme pain, He has strep throat and blood in his urine.
Kandace took him to the doctor and he said that Chase has kidney stones. They also figure that he has the same Kidney Disease that Troy has. It just makes me sick. Being such a little boy they can't give him any med's when he passes the stones, he just has to go through it.
Keep him in your prayers.


Close to 2 weeks ago Challis Stewart was thrown of a 4 wheeler and broke his pelvis in 3 places.
He also cracked his ankle. He is home now and on crutches. The doctors are amazed at how well he is healing. They expected him to heal fast because of his age, but they say they have never yet seen ANYONE heal this fast.


Becky Stewart"s engagement is off but She has something else exciting in her life. She is graduating from BYU Utah in ....Early Childhood Education......April 25th.



Britton & Amber Hayden are expecting their 3rd child. She is abt. 12 weeks pregnant.
She was terrible sick at first but the doc. gave her something interesting to help with that. It worked and is now feeling gine. FYI...! vitamin B-6 pill along with 1/2 of a sleeping pill (like unisom) AT NIGTH before going to bed. Worked wonders.. Interesting huh.


Denice Purdy told us that Dale Purdy and his wife Mandy are expecting a new baby, I think in May.


Kade lusk and his wife Shancey are expecting a baby also.


Levi Knutt (Ken and MelindaCambell's son) is out on a mission. I think he left in March to Florida.


Dustin Larsen received his mission call to Chicago and leaves the first part of July.


Skyler Stewart also mailed in his call the same time as Dustin did, but there has been some mix up and he is still waiting for it. Dustin got his about a month ago & Skyler is going crazy.
Jeff has talked to everyone from his Stk. Pres. and our Stk. Pres. to the Mission office and If everything goes right he should receive it this Wed. or next Wed.

I hope this has caught everyone up to date.

Love ya, MOM

UPDATES

My Mother, Dorma Call wrote this down for me.

Dear Jo

Briefly this is the way that I remember this.

My Uncle Fred Housley, (my mothers brother) and his wife Aunt Hazel were retired and they were going home for Christmas.

On their way, they were hit by (I believe) a Semi.

The ambulance came and the paramedics put Uncle Fred on a gurney and checked

him out to see if he was ok. He seemed fine.

He hadn't been told yet that Aunt Hazel had died.

They brought her up on a gurney next to Uncle Fred . Uncle Fred raised up on his elbow

and looked over to see how Aunt Hazel was doing.

They had her face covered up with a sheet and so, he laid back down and was dead.

A couple of weeks prior to this, Uncle Fred and Aunt Hazel were at Aunt Clarissa's and Uncle Fred said to her that they were going to go on a mission soon . They asked him when, where, and how. Did you get your call yet, And he said no, No one had asked them to go yet, but he knew they would be going soon.

After this incident took place They figured that this was the mission they were called on.

From a woman that I love, and that I would love to be like.

'I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a
shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly
coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in
a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I
want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenk's
lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making
sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children. I want to be there with a little
dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden. I want to be
there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on
my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.'

Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Quick Birthday Bash

The day before Mom's birthday, our family was heading up to Spokane to visit the Reeds. Amber had the idea that we could leave early enough from Provo in order to grab a meal with Mom to celebrate her birthday on our way through Pocatello.

A few phone calls were made and Joe, Jen, and Chloe were able to join us with Mom and Dad for an IHOP meal. We had a great time visiting around the table and chatting. It was a fun break for us to stop there and share a meal together.

The kids all pitched in for a Bedroom Makeover as Mom's birthday gift. I believe Jen, Amber, and Nae will be showing up soon to paint and redo carpet in Mom and Dad's old bedroom.

I'm excite to see how it is going to look!

Branding

We are planning to brand on May 3. The way things are going , we might have enough calves for one for each of us. If that date doesn't work out let me know.

Two Minute Emergency

On Monday, Amber and I held an emergency preparedness family home evening. We started out by giving the kids two minutes to run around the house and gather all the things that they thought they might need an emergency that would last them three days.

Our kids came up with some very interesting things. Aylee came down with a handful of clothes, scriptures, and a backpack full of school work. She was dropping clothes and other items everywhere as she ran. Aliece came down with only a pillow and her blanket. No, wait, she also brought her poodle purse. Alayna screamed the whole way out of the house. She was so upset that she did not have time to grab all of her church clothes. Johnathan didn't have any shoes or socks but he did have three pairs of underwear.

Aylee realized after everything was said and done that with all those clothes that she was dragging around in her bare arms, she didn't have a single pair of pants, but, she exclaimed, "At least I have my Yankee hat!"

For good measure, Aylee also brought pass along cards just in case they came in handy.

I think the lesson made in impression upon the children. For our activity, Amber helped the kids assemble some 72 hour kits. She and I found some three dollar backpacks several months ago. We bought them up and stored them in the garage until we had enough items to assemble kits.

For our date this weekend, Amber and I went crazy at sportsman's warehouse. We bought up roughly $300 worth of emergency supplies. We only had to pay $100, however, because we had a $200 gift card that I received as a prize from a Novell Christmas activity.

We still have a lot more to do in order for a 72 hour kits to be complete. However, at least we have the bare necessities down.

Sex Education - Sunbeam Style

After church today, Alayna wanted to cuddle by me on the floor. We grabbed a couple of blankets and nestled ourselves on our big floor pillow. While we got comfortable I started to ask her about her day. The discussion went from her activities and such to what she learned about in class.

As she talked to me, she explained that they learned about the birds and the bees in their Sunbeam primary class at church. I was pretty interested in what they had taught so I asked her some follow up questions. She replied, "I have a picture they gave me, do you want to see?" Intrigued I responded that I did.

She ran over to her Sunday papers and brought back two coloring pages that she had colored. Sure enough, the Sunbeams got a lesson on the Birds and the Bees!

A Violent Family Celebration

Yesterday, Jake and I finished up our second to last class for the MBA program at Utah State. In order to celebrate this new milestone, Amber and the kids took me out to the grade school where we played some family baseball.

It was a beautiful day and we had a great time playing catch and knocking the ball around. The day wasn't without it's injuries, however. Both Johnathan and Aylee got smacked in the head with the base ball during our play time. Johnathan got a nice little bloody nose and Aylee was blessed with a shiner.



Aylee's shiner didn't show up well in the picture, but it sure looked nice at church today! Johnathan and Aylee took it well and we were able to laugh about the experience on our way home.

My New Friend

We sure had a great time with Jen and Chloe last week. I felt bad that so much was going on with our family when they were down here, but Jen was very flexible and we really enjoyed ourselves.

One of the highlights of the visit was that I finally won over one of my nieces! When Chloe first arrived to our house she was definitely uncertain about the whole thing. I spent some time playing with her on our stairs. She was hesitant and cautious while I played, but then we found something that she thought was funny and I tried putting my hand to my mouth to laugh to throw some dramatics into the game. She caught on to that - after that incident we were best buds for the rest of the week.


The hand-to-mouth laughs were our connection throughout the week. Anytime we did something or saw something that Chloe thought was funny, she would put her hand to her mouth to laugh and I would do the same.

Thanks Jen for bringing Chloe down and letting me have that time with her so that she could get to know her uncle a bit better!

Fire! Fire!! Fire!!!

Our family worked on a rudimentary fire drill plan when we first moved into our house a while back. One of the plans we made was that if we ever had a fire or other emergency, we were all to meet up at the Tucker's house - our next door neighbors.

We haven't really talked about it for some time. The other day, Amber was cooking some fish in the kitchen and for some reason there was some smoke from one of the items she was preparing. All the kids were playing in the family room and kitchen when the smoke alarm when off. As soon as that thing went off Alayna started yelling, "Fire! Everyone run to the Tucker's!!!" She was gone in an instant. We all tried to catch her but she was out the door and on their doorstep before Aylee was able to reach her.

We convinced her that it was a false alarm and that she could come back in the house. The kids started playing again when the alarm went off the second time. Bam! Alayna yelled about the Tucker's house and was gone in an instant!

Man, that girl has the drill down pat!

Medication Turmoil

After many weeks of working with school professionals, doctors, psychologists, and books, Amber and I made a decision this week to try Aliece on some medication that was recommended by a doctor.

While no one has been able to diagnose Aliece with anything in particular, one of the psychologists suggested that we just try some ADHD medication to see if it wouldn't help curb some of Aliece's tendencies that make classroom settings so difficult for teachers and peers.

After consulting with another pediatrician, we decided to start with a new drug called Vyvanse. This morning was the first time we administered the medication.

Amber was volunteering in Aliece's class this morning and was there when Aliece walked in. When the students all entered the class, Aliece did not make a scene and announce herself to everyone as she typically does, she went straight to her desk along with everyone else. When the teacher asked them to put their books away, Aliece went over and did just was instructed. The teacher did not realize Aliece was on medication. She turned to Amber and said, wow, that is impressive.

However, as time progressed, Aliece's behavior started to change. Amber and the teacher watched as in the hour Aliece's countenance fell and got gloomier and gloomier.

Near the end of one of their activities, the teacher told Amber, "I like the old Aliece better than this."

One of the children in the class even asked Amber, "What's wrong with Aliece? She is talking so quietly today."

When it was time for the class to walk to the Music room, Aliece was not found rushing down the hall in front of the class as is the typically experience. Rather, she walked slowly and was soon the last in the line. Her teacher had to hold on to her shoulder and help her continue on her way to class.

Half way through the music period, the teacher brought Aliece out to Amber and said that she was not singing (which is amazing for Aliece who loves to sing - and sing at maximum lung capacity at that). They decided it might be best for Aliece to return home with Amber.

By the time Aliece and Amber got home, Aliece was quite emotional and easily brought to tears.

As I left for work, I could hardly get out the door for all the things that Aliece had to tell me. She would not even pause to let me get a word in. I had to finally kiss her good-bye mid-sentence and leave her at the doorstep still rambling on.

After I had been to work for about an hour, Amber called saying Aliece was still talking non-stop and was very itchy around her mouth and eyes.

About that time, Amber took this video (We have condensed it down - it was ten minutes of straight talking):


For those reading this as an email, you can see the video by clicking this link: http://www.ht4.org/h2Yq857bo.

Due to the demanding nature of Aliece's speech, Amber asked if I could come home and give her a break. Not only was Aliece rambling constantly, she required you to have eye contact with her all the time and be an active listener or she would get very upset.

Aliece really didn't eat anything after breakfast. Hoping to get something down her we broke out some diet pop and some cheetos. She carried around the bag of cheetos everywhere with her - coveting the size of the bag, etc, but still didn't consume them directly.

I finally got her to watch a movie, but she still couldn't stop talking and she talked through the entire flick - asking me to pause it so that she could explain it all to me.

After the movie, I took the following picture:


I was hoping to catch in the picture the raw skin around the eyes and mouth, however, the picture doesn't do it justice. This was her attempt at a happy smile.

By dinner time, Aliece's need for talking was a bit more controllable. Alayna said a prayer to bless the food before we ate. After the prayer Aliece was in tears and said that Alayna should have prayed that she would get better. Aliece knows she is not well today and was very concerned about it. Alayna said another prayer and included Aliece in the blessing.

Aliece did not eat much of her dinner, but she did sit at the table and participate in the conversations.

As bedtime approached, Aliece relapsed into constant talking to some degree. When it was time for bed, Amber said the prayer with all the kids (I had to run to a meeting). She could not say more than a sentence or two without Aliece commenting that she should add this to her prayer or pray for so and so, etc.

It is now 9:30PM and Aliece is still in bed wide awake. She is trying so hard to be quiet and go to sleep. However, Amber was searching on the Internet and read of people saying that their child did not sleep for 30 Hours straight after they took one of the pills. We are hoping that this will not be her experience.

We are not planning on sending Aliece to school tomorrow. We will probably keep her home one more day and make sure everything is trending to normal.

Aliece had been making many improvements at home and at school. Amber and I have always stated that we could do just fine without medicating Aliece. However, we have been concerned about the non-home-structured experiences such as school and church. Thus, we have been meeting so often with specialists in the field to determine what is best.

We know the doctors are going to suggest simply switching to another medication, but frankly, after today, I don't know if we have the stamina to put Aliece through what she has gone through today.

We love Aliece and her personality. We don't want to use any medication that changes who she is - even if it works well in the classroom. She does fine in school, gets good grades; We just want her to have positive relationships with her teachers and peers.

We'll let you know what ever happens along this road. But until then, we're looking forward to getting Aliece back to her true self.

Frugality

The other day Amber went shopping at Albertsons because they had some special ad deals. When she got done purchasing her 100+ items for our food storage, the checker was amazed as she pointed out Amber's killer stats:



She spent $161.52. She used $210.11 worth of coupons and took advantage of $5.21 of "Bonus Buy Savings". She saved 30% MORE than what she spent total. That is my kind of woman!

What would you do?

Amber and I have been working on behavioral issues in our family. We have been studying books and parenting tips from articles, books, and professionals in order to help our children be more socially responsible.

One of the areas of focus in our family lately has been consistency and no warnings - just follow throughs on consequences.

One of the rules for Aliece and Alayna is that they are not allowed to have pens or pencils in their bedroom due to their wall/furniture artwork that tends to result from having those items in their room. The consequence for breaking this rule is that the offending instrument is thrown away.

Tonight, Amber walked by their room and saw Aliece drawing with a pen. Following through our carefully studied and practiced curriculum, Amber said, "Oh, oh, Aliece, what happens when I find pens and pencils in your bedroom?"

Aliece looked up and said, "Oh, but, Mom, I am almost done." She then showed Amber her prohibited project:



What would you do? :-)

Way to go John!

As we all know, John is far too modest. According to his last blog we are "blowing him away" with exercise minutes. Well, he may not be in first place on the map, but I bet he's in first place for weight loss. In less than 2 months he has dropped 14 pounds! I spent the morning mad at him because he dropped another pound today! :)

Fun Places

Amber pointed out the family workout page to me today - it is pretty cool. Amber is in the comic-book-world-famous: Metropolis - work place of Clark Kent (AKA Superman).

Joe also just happens to be in St. Joseph! LOL. Thanks for taking part in the challenge guys. You are blowing me away!

Special Dinner Guests

Last night, Amber got an email telling us that the Missionaries had a dinner appointment fall through and the ward was looking for someone willing to feed the missionaries on short notice. Amber volunteered.

Of course, having the missionaries over wasn't supposed to be a big deal, but at the last minute everything started going wrong. Around 3pm Jace started getting a fever and needed to be held every second.

Luckily, Amber had prepared a lasagna and all she had to do to put it in the oven. However, after waiting for the lasagna to cook, Amber realized that the oven element wasn't even on. The oven was on the fritz and the dinner was cooked. So, Amber had to run the pan to the neighbors for some serious cooking.

I got home right about five and went and grabbed the missionaries. Amber's quick thinking landed Jace in bed (and asleep) by the time dinner started, and a warm lasagna was retrieved from the neighbors. The missionaries didn't even know the difference!

On a similar note, one of the girls that Aylee has been working with for missionary work, is now getting baptized. She is a girl from school and Aylee's softball team from last year. Aylee invited her to our stake's Christmas fireside in December and also gave her a Book of Mormon. The baptism is scheduled for April 19th. Your prayers for the baptism would be welcome! We're excited that her friend is making this big decision.