Lagoon

Since Jon and his family were in town Jason's mom decided to take us all to Lagoon.  We have never taken the kids before - so they were so excited.  They talked about it everyday for weeks - which was funny because in truth they had no idea what "Lagoon" was.

 These two are just best friends.  They rode all their rides together if they had the chance.  A lot of kids wanted to ride "solo" a lot - but it never even crossed their minds to ride solo - even if it meant that only one of them could drive or something - they didn't care - they still rode together.
 

This was only like day 4 of Megan's glasses and it had been a tough 4 days - I was really worried about them.  I almost considered just not even having them.  We stopped at Walmart on our way and got them refitted and bought her one of those neck tie things.  She was wonderful.  She wore them the whole time, they never fell off during the rides - it was like we didn't even have them.  This was the first day I thought "there might be a light at the end of this tunnel".


 

 

 

Marissa brought Leah and she was such a good baby and a great trooper - I couldn't even imagine bringing a baby - Marissa is much more chill than I am.


I was so glad we got to go with our cousins.  It was a great memory for them to make together.

 I left Maddie home with a babysitter and Jason had to go to work - so it was just me with the three older kids.  It was perfect.  Brock and Noah rode the rides together and I rode with Megan.

 Megan and I had a GREAT day and really bonded - I almost felt like I was with an older daughter - like 8 or 10 years old not 3.  We had great conversations and just had real fun.

 

I was surprised how many rides she could go on.  It was absurd to see her in these big roller coaster seats in her giant glasses, doing these really big girl things.  She never seemed so small and yet so big at the same time. 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyone else remember riding in these boats??

 

We did get the 3 year olds to take naps in the stroller and wagon in the late afternoon.  Probably because we still let our three year olds have binkeys!  Hey - you do what you gotta do!

 

We did go to Lagoon a Beach for about an hour.

 

Debby with all the grandkids at Lagoon.  Thanks Debby - it was one of our most favorite days!  And she made it so awesome and easy.  She brought all the lunch, snacks, waters, etc.  I hardly packed anything to bring - just my purse basically.  It was wonderful.

 

 

 One of the best parts of the day was the evening.  All of the rest of the family was ready to leave around 6:00 pm.  Well before we even got to Lagoon each child had a request.  Brock wanted to ride a roller coaster, Megan wanted to ride the train, and Noah wanted to ride the Farris Wheel.  We had done Brock and Megans requests, but the Farris Wheel was on the far side of the park we hadn't been to yet because there were no rides for small kids.  So I decided to put our stroller in the car, say good-bye to our cousins and grandma, then I would take the three kids back into the park and the four of us would go on the Farris Wheel. The park had gotten pretty busy at this point (mostly from teenagers) and I was a little nervous.  We went on the Farris Wheel - and then they wanted to go on another ride, then another, then another. 

 

 

 

Before we knew it - it was 9:30 and the park was closing.  They were SO GOOD and we had SO MUCH fun.  I couldn't believe we had spent almost 12 hours at Lagoon.  I really thought the kids would burn out and just be whiney around 4 or 5.  I was shocked that we didn't get home until 10:45!  It was such a great day.  I told Jason when we got home I felt like I was with 3 kids - not 3 toddlers or babies - but 3 big kids.  I am really excited for this next phase of our life.

West Virginia Herberts

 
 
 
Jason's brother, Jon, and his family drove across country from West Virginia and spent a week in Mapleton with Jason's parents.  So we went down and spent a couple days with them.  It was so much fun.  They have four kids all about the same ages as are kids.  We have only seen them about 3 or so times - but every time it is more and more fun. 

 

Springville was having a parade - so we went.  My kids have never been to a parade since Jason and I think they are of the devil - ever live 5 years on a parade route?  It will turn you against parades forever!

 

 

 

 

The kids loved it - especially since they threw candy at them and Megan and Madison were convinced that every beauty queen on a float was a princess - they were in heaven. 

 

During the weekend we:

 

Read a lot of books

 

Played a lot of "girl stuff" - Megan loved having Alana there to show her how to do "real girl stuff"

 

 

 

Played with this cutie pie!!

 

Rode a TON of bikes.

 

Read more books

 

Also swam, played legos, Ipads, Nintendo, and ate WAY TO MUCH GOOD FOOD.

 

 

This is Leah and Maddie - they are about 6 months apart.  They had a lot of fun together.

Megan got glasses

We have noticed over the past 6 months or so that Megan had been going cross eyed.  I mentioned it to her pediatrician at her 3  year old well check.  He ran some basic tests and confirmed that she was cross eyed and would probably have to wear an eye patch for a few months and then have surgery.  He referred us to a ophthalmologist. 

Well we went to the ophthalmologist and he discovered that she was not really cross eyed - but she was extremely far sided (+6.8) and she was crossing her eyes trying to focus. 

This whole glasses thing has been very emotional (for both of us) for a number of reasons:

• I felt extremely guilty that my 3 year old has spent most of her life not seeing things.  She is so smart that she just hides it well I guess (or at least that is what I tell myself), she knows all of her letters and is starting to read, we play eye-spy in the car and she correctly finds things, etc.
• I have memories of kids in kindergarten through 6th grade having eye glasses and there being a "nerd" stigma.  I am over this one now - but on the day of it broke my heart to think that some people might not see past her glasses and see her.
• Our doctor said that most 3 year olds go through 3to 4 pairs of glasses a year (and he expressed extra concern for having so many other young children in our house. :)   Plus her prescription is so intense they are extra expensive - so while that puts a financial burden on us that didn't concern me as much as...
• Having to have her be responsible/disciplined/ in charge of her glasses.  She is 3!  I did not want to be mad at her when she has broken her 5th pair of glasses in a month - but we can not afford to replace glasses every few weeks - but I feel strongly that she should get to run and play and jump and do what ever she wants with out having to worry about her glasses.

Finding the right pair for her was very difficult and in the end we had to go with a sponge bob square pants pair (she doesn't even know who he is) - but they were the right fit and they were pink (her only request).  Her prescription is so intense that the lenses magnify her eyes quite a bit and are so heavy they pull her glasses down a little bit - she has started to learn to push them back up, although she can not put them on by herself yet.  We have already had to go get them readjusted and tightened 3 times in just our first week.

Her temperament has been off the charts since she got her glasses.  We don't really fight ABOUT the glasses she just screams and cries and throws fits about EVERY THING ELSE.  I assume it has to be the glasses because it has been the only thing that has changed, but I am to the point of going crazy (that post I wrote about our bad day and I said she hadn't not screamed all day - that was day 3 of her glasses) and it has been like that ALL WEEK. 

But the up side of it all - the thing I hold too. Is that on the way home from picking up her glasses she says to me, "mom, what are those white lines on the road?"  "What are those trees on the side of the road?" "What are those rocks doing on the ground?" (we were coming off the freeway at Redwood where they have the decorative rocks).  I teared up - SO grateful that my daughter could finally see!  I felt so guilty for having any doubts or sadness about the glasses - I had NO IDEA she had not seen those things.  We went outside when we got home and she took about 30 minutes and she stared at every tree, every flower, just everything - she looked at everything like she had never seen it before.  It made it all worth it.

"those" days

I have some great mothering days, I really do, but I also have horrible awful days.  I have blogged about many of them before, I don't know why I feel the need to blog about the bad days, I guess it is just something else to do other than scream at my kids or yell into a pillow.

I guess it has all been coming to a head for a while.  Because of vacations and visitors we haven't had our normal routine for a few weeks and we have been getting through pretty successfully.  I knew today was going to start out stressful because Brock had his Kindergarten testing at 9:00 am and we were all going (mistake 1: should have had a baby sitter).  I had taken the other three to Brock's class the week before for a presentation Brock was giving and they were perfect angels, sat and colored in the back of the room the whole time.  So I thought it wouldn't be a big deal.  Wrong.  But I will get to that in a minute.

I woke up a good hour before my kids (best thing I did all day) and took a shower, got ready, and started breakfast.  The day was off to a good start.  By 7:15 am I was completely ready (dressed, makeup, hair) and I had all 4 kids sitting down at the table eating breakfast.  The boys were being pretty silly but they hadn't really been together, just the two of them, for several days so I found it endearing instead of annoying.  Megan was done and since the day was still early and things were coming together smoothly I decided to give her a MUCH needed bath.

*Side note - giving her a bath/shower is one of the most overwhelming things in my life right now.  I am going to admit the she had not had her hair washed in 10 days.  And every day I put it off because of one excuse or another so I forced myself to do it today (mistake number 2).  She takes baths or showers really good, but once it is time to wash her hair it all goes down hill.  To get it all wet, wash it, rinse it, condition it, rinse it, get out.  Then comb it all out.  Then dry it, and style it.  JUST to get yogurt in it in the next hour is just too much for me.

Well, as you can imagine Maddie wanted to get in too.  Not in the plan, but fine.  While I am bathing them I hear a bang.  Run downstairs and see that the boys (who were still very sillily eating breakfast) had both spilled their cereal.  And not just a spill, splashes, I had cream of wheat (worst thing to clean up ever) and chex and milk splashed all over my walls, counters, tables, chairs and boys.  I have no idea how it happened and I never got a straight story. 

Got the girls out, put the boys in.  Clock is ticking and I notice things are getting tight.  We watch Daniel Tigers Neighborhood while I get the girls dressed and do their hair.  Thankfully they boys are now BOTH able to take showers, clean, get out, and get dressed all unsupervised (minus reminding them of things a million times)... I thought that day would never come. 

Mistake #3 I knew the chances of Megan washing her hair before Sunday were slim to none so I thought I should put in in a braid to last it a few days.  Too many things were going on, she was not having it and after WAISTING 15 minutes trying to successfully braid her hair I had to rewet it and start over.  I SHOULD have thrown it in a pony tail and called it good, but that would have almost guaranteed a pony tail every day until I washed it again - and I usually only try and pony tail it the last 2 days or so... any ways.  I re wet it, re comb it, and start blow drying it.  She is done.  And now I am barking orders, threatening, and we are just fighting all the way through the process - I hate that.  It is now 8:50 and I am panicked that we are going to be late.  I tell the boys to brush their teeth, Noah tells me he doesn't want to - that happens about EVERY THING I say Every time - so I don't think much of it.  I carry the girls down stairs to see my kitchen a disaster.  I had forgotten to clean up breakfast.  Ugh.  But I did clean up the spills!

Get shoes on the girls and tell everyone to get in the car.  I go inside and yell for Noah, no response, I run upstairs to find him sadly sitting in the bathroom saying he is not brushing his teeth.  This is where I lost it.  The stress of Megan's hair, the kitchen mess, taking them all to Brock's school, being late to Brock's testing, and now Noah refusing to brush his teeth... it was all too much.  I force brushed his teeth while telling him that he needs to do what I ask him to do with out complaining, carry him down stairs, put his shoes on, all while still lecturing him on the importance of obedience.  Get out to the car and the other kids have gone crazy, running all over the place.  I was tired of fighting and yelling.  But we now had 1 minute to get to the school.  I yelled for them to all get in the car and continued my lecture (to now all 4 of them) about how I told them to get in the car and they need to listen.... blah, blah, blah.

Get to the school.  Wow, I just realized I am documenting WAY to much detail and I can't keep that up.  So... kids got banished to the hall... yada, yada, yada... got banished to the library... yada, yada, yada... eventually got banished to the play ground (should have started there... duh) (I didn't because I wanted to HEAR Brock test... we are still having problems with his reading performance at school).  Back to the story... I was talking to Brock's teacher while the kids played on the Kindergarten playground, she we telling me how he missed a bunch or REALLY EASY math questions and was not "in the mood" to read.  I was frustrated.  She goes back inside, I turn to get the kids... Madison is gone.  No one knows where she is.  The "real" playground is full of kids.  I send Brock one way and I go another... yada, yada, yada... about 5 minutes later after a wild goose chase with some 4th graders who saw her once we end up in the office with Brock's teacher with Madison.  Ahhh - and let me just tell you this is not the first time this has happened.... I loose Madison almost every time I go to the school... I was SO humiliated and frustrated.  I was so mad at my kids.  And then even on the way out into the parking lot to the car they were terrible.  Running into the street, screaming, and just not listening to a thing I was saying.  Oh and Megan didn't want to leave and  threw a huge tantrum in the middle of the bus lane, took her shoes off and threw them, and everyone WAS still watching us. I HATE when I am in over my head, and I was actually in over my head (sometimes it just LOOKS like I am, but this time I really was).

We got home, I turned on a show, locked myself in my room and cried.  After 20 minutes I went downstairs, made lunch, and put all 4 of them down for a nap.  I laid in my bed, watched episodes from Thirty Rock season 1, eat a Milky Way candy bar and a bowl of chocolate pudding.  And now here I am writing this.

**Update:  Ha, ha ha.  Mrs. Sheffield just called (Brock's teacher) and she starts out by saying, "I hope you don't think this is out of line, but I have some questions for you about how you handle your children." I brace myself for the worst.  "I don't know anyone who has so many children so close together and you handle them all so great"  WHAT?!?  I stop her.  "What are you talking about", I said, "I loose Madison every time I come to the school and Brock apparently can't count to 14".  She laughed and brushed it all off as typical parenting and can't believe I don't loose all of them all the time, and even when I do I stay so calm and collected.  Well what she was really calling about was she has just had her second and wants to take bother her kids swimming and wants some tips about how to handle them both in the pool and she thought I would be the perfect person to ask. That was for SURE the emotional boost I needed.

***Update again:  It is now night time and if you thought me getting an emotional boost and a 3 hour brake while everyone took a nap would help turn our horrible day around... you would be dead wrong.  We got about a good 45 minutes of happy time before they (mostly meaning the girls, mostly meaning Megan) turned.  She had a rough day, I don't think she said one single thing to me that was not yelled or cried.  I am pretty sure she has thrown an almost 15 hour tantrum, and when she gets going they all feed into it.  I am done.  Done!

Zoo train

One afternoon while the other three napped Brock and I built a zoo with a train ride around it.  he was VERY particular about the animals and the exhibits and how the cages were built.  The set up took about an hour or more and we played for another good hour.  He wanted to take pictures of it all and one with me in the middle and one with him - then he asked me to put it on my blog.  He was very proud.

Women's Conference

I have been going to women's conference for almost 10 years.  I have taken a few years off because of babies - but for the most part I have tried to make it to some of it.  Jason has always been really supportive of me going.  For several years he has taken the two days off of work and watched the kids so I could be there for both days. 

I absolutely love women's conference - for lots of reason.  A break from my day to day routine, a spiritual boost, time to reflect and receive inspiration and revelation, walking around BYU campus in the spring time - beautiful, being with so many other women, eating meals by myself, getting a good workout running around campus, etc.  Most people go with other women and it is a fun social event, I don't really go with anyone - my mom and some of her friends are down there and I often catch a class or two with them - but for the most part I am alone, and I love that - I need the alone time more than I need the social time.

This year was wonderful.  I went to a wonderful class called, "mothering young children" - I wasn't going to go because I figured it would just be a lot of "my worst day" stories and "my best day stories" with a lot of "take time for  yourself" in between - not really what I wanted or needed to hear.  Last minute I change my plans and I went and I left in tears of joy.  Mostly the feeling in the room was wonderful, sitting in a room with 2,000 women who ALL are mothering SEVERAL young children, I made friends with the women sitting nest to me and we lifted each other up.  Sounds cheesy - but it was great.  I also ran into a good friend from our BYU days - Candice Kvavle - it was wonderful to see her again.

My best take away was not something that was talked about at all (that's how you know it is from the spirit) - it was a lot about Noah and how I can mother him different.  And how my personality and emotions GREATLY effect the mood and spirit in my home and I need to control that better.

Temples

One of my favorite outings is to go to temples and play on the grounds.  My kids love it too. 

 

One day we went to Oquirrh Mountain

Megan found a "forget me not" and loved it.  She kept it the whole day.

  

 

Another day we went down to temple square.  This was right after conference and they recognized the conference center and wanted to go in.  I knew they were too rambunctious for a whole tour but I asked if we could just see the auditorium and they said "of course".  My kids LOVED IT!  They thought is was the coolest thing they have ever seen.

They let them go down to the front - I couldn't go because I had a stroller and you can't take a stroller down and you can't leave it unsupervised (might have a bomb).  But a nice little old lady took them down.  I was very nervous for her taking all four of them all down by herself.  I gave them a good talking to before with strict rules and prayed the whole time Noah would not set anything on fire

They did great - Noah was a little crazy - but well enough.  Miss Maddie insisted on walking down each stair all by her self and walking back up again all by her self.