2009 Pictures

For the past few years instead of taking my kids to Penneys to get their pictures done, I have just taken then out and done them myself. I am not "Worlds Best Photographer," but it is fun to take their pictures the way that I want and I can print them all for free right on my own printer. So, this is just a few of VERY MANY pictures that we took yesterday.

Full of giggles!:)

My sweet (most of the time) girls!

My big men!

Check out the side bar for some of their individuals. I took so many that I may switch them out off and on so you can see more than just these!
*I do have to say...the picture quality doesn't look great because I saved it with a low quality number to upload to blogger quicker. They are actually much better quality than they appear!:)

Rhett's the Big 5

I can't believe it has been 5 years since we first welcomed Rhett into the world. It amazes me how when you are struggling in life it is hard to take it a day at a time and when you are enjoying it it seems to fly by! The past 5 years with Rhett has definitely flown by.

So....a little bit about Rhett that maybe some of you don't know. Rhett has always been able to beat-up his big brother Dallin. Rhett is SO STRONG. An example of this - the other day I took the kids to the park and a big kid had thrown a swing up and around the top bar to make it higher off the ground. The seat of the swing was eye level for Rhett. Oakley attempted to get into the swing and couldn't, then Dallin attempted to get into the swing and couldn't. Next thing I know Rhett has shimmied up the chain and was sitting in the swing ready for an underdoggie! He is physically SO STRONG!

But.....there is a whole other side to Rhett. He LOVES Strawberry Shortcake - not the food, the doll/movie. He checks-out a new Strawberry movie every week at the library....which usually gives the librarian a good giggle. His bed is constantly covered in stuffed animals. He has to sleep with all of them or there is issues. He is always found carrying Share Bear (his purple carebear that he stole from Oakley) around under his armpit. We go very few places without her and his Nemo Fishy blanket. Rhett is the pickiest eater you will ever meet. It is possible to live and grow strong and healthy on milk and yellow chips. :) He is so shy and gets tripped over many times hanging onto my leg in public. He is finally breaking out of his shell a little - thank goodness!! He is SO FULL of life and keeps us constantly laughing with his wise cracks. We are so blessed to have him in our home and a part of out family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY!

How Many Dryers Can One Person Kill?

The dryer that Ryan and I have been using we got 10 years ago when we first moved into our house. We got it used from his parents. They figured it would last us a year or two and then we would have to replace it....it lasted much longer than that. About a month ago though it started acting funny and for the past couple weeks it has just been living on a prayer. Finally last Saturday it gave up and died and found a new home in the garage.

Because Ryan hasn't had a single second to spare between farming and hunting on his way out the door last Saturday he told me to check Craigslist. I luckily found a dryer not far from me for only $100. (Which was a blessing because who has $500 burning a hole in their pocket right now?? NOT ME!) I ran and picked it up and Sunday afternoon Ry and his bro. unloaded it and I ran one load through it to make sure it worked. Then it sat for the entire week (I do all my laundry on Saturdays). This morning I put my first load in it and it was dead as a doornail. It wouldn't even try to work. ARGH!!! Ryan tore into the wall to see if it was electrical, but it isn't.

So - we called the guy that sold it to me and he said he has a dryer in an apartment he knows works and so he will bring us that one and trade. All I have to say is - IT BETTER WORK!

My fence can only hold so many clothes. I know that I am spoiled. I realize that the pioneers had to hang dry their clothes all the time, but they really only had one set of work clothes and one set of Sunday clothes. I am guessing that they didn't wash their Sunday clothes very often so really they only had to put on one set of scratchy clothes once a week....not every morning and p.j.'s every night. And.......don't even get me started on scratchy towels and underwear.:)

Weird

So...we have had some weirdness at our house today. I heard screaming around 6 this morning coming from the boys room. When I got there Rhett had fallen out of his bed (not a far fall) and was crying because his leg didn't work. I was sure that his leg had just fallen to sleep so I lugged him back into bed and went back to sleep. This morning he wouldn't get out of bed and so I lugged him to the couch. (Remember I am still not suppose to lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk for another couple weeks....but what do you do when you are the mom and home alone??) Anyway - he couldn't straighten his leg. He couldn't bend it back very far either - he would only hold it in a semi-bent position. He would cry if we tried to move it at all. But, I could push all over it and have no problems. So, I knew it had nothing to do with the bones...just something behind the knee. It had pretty much no swelling...if any very little and no bruising whatsoever. I finally told him if he didn't get up and walk I was taking him to the Doctor. So he attempted to stand and tried to hobble...but wouldn't straighten it at all. When Ry got home from hunting I had him show his dad how he could walk and when he was hobbling it gave out from under him and he fell and was in tears AGAIN. So I swooped him up and off we went to the doc. They took x-rays and nothing is broken...which I assumed. The first doc thought that he must have something (I have no idea what they called it) that affects 2-6 year old boys that causes their joints to swell and get inflamed and hurt for a few days and then goes away. He wanted another doc to look though and he had no idea either. He wondered if he hyper extended it. Rhett said he maybe hurt it on the trampoline yesterday, but I didn't hear a word about it yesterday and he put his own bum in bed last night, so WE HAVE NO IDEA what is wrong with it. They sent me home with motrin instructions and told me to let him baby it and what to watch for incase we need to go back in. I guess we will see what time brings.

Since I hate to post and not put a picture - here is my cute man. I was going to post a picture of his knee....but,....since it just looks like a knee I decided this was better.:)

Oakley's Daily Fight

JDRF has a Walk to Cure Diabetes every year and this year because of my surgery we aren't going to attend, but we still wanted to share the video that we made back before we knew what we were going to do. We don't expect anyone to donate money right now because we know that times are extremely tough, we just want to make people aware of what our sweet 9 year old deals with on a daily basis. We thank all of you for all your love and support. We have had an interesting 3 1/2 years with this disease and look forward to the day....maybe not in this life....that we no longer have this as a trial. Oakley is one of the lucky ones that understands that there WILL be a life after this one that she won't have diabetes and we count that as a blessing. She is so strong and is constantly amazing us!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3-QBHmhzlA

*The pictures in the video are fuzzy - sorry

- they weren't that way on my computer when we uploaded it!:(

Preschool at the Zoo

Today was Rhett's first day of Preschool. This year for preschool I decided to join some other ladies in doing a "mommy preschool" where the mom's take turns teaching. The preschool teacher I used for my other two kids has retired and the other preschools around me were either full or I wasn't very impressed with them. I struggled driving him to town and the $75 price tag that came with an in-town preschool. I am excited to be a part of what he is learning this year but still have the opportunity for him to learn from other ladies while interacting with other children. I really think it will work out fine!
This is Rhett and the only other boy in the preschool. To begin with it was just going to be Rhett and 3 little girls, but I just happened to run onto this other mother with a boy that was looking to do a mommy preschool too. I think it was an answer to a prayer. Rhett's one and only friend Tylee - the sweetest little girl around - moved back East a few months ago. He has been really lonely without her and I think this preschool thing is just what he needed.

And these are the baby ducks. I THOUGHT THEY WERE SO CUTE!! They were probably my favorite part of the day....except the part where my sweet 4 year old wanted to hold my hand....melt my heart!! It was fun to just spend the day with Rhett. Because the doc told me nothing heavier than a gallon of milk for a few weeks I knew that pushing Laiklie around in a stroller was totally off limits - which was okay...it was nice to leave her to swath with her dad and just have a special day with my big man Rhett. I am looking forward to a fun year of preschool with him!!

Proof of my Pain!

So my mom just ran the kids to get a "Happy Meal" and I am suppose to be sleeping, but you can only sleep so much during the day or you don't sleep at night. So I decided to check my email and update you all real quickly. It has to be quick or I will get in trouble when she gets back! You are never to old to be bossed by your mom!:)

This picture is pretty gross for those with weak stomachs, but I wanted to show proof of my pain!

I am doing pretty good. Every day is a little better. I still walk hunched over like an old man and I about need help to stand-up and sit down. I can only sleep in one position...which puts a damper on sleeping and I constantly have an icepack in my pants. I have a week until they take out the stitches and alot of weeks until I am completely healed and back to normal. I am surrounded by great friends who have brought meals and sent loving emails and a sweet mom that is babying me! I am to a point that I KNOW I WILL SURVIVE!! so that is great news! Thank you all for your concern and love!