Blog Overhaul

Wow. That was fun. Upgrading blogger and customizing everything. I will still be tweaking things though. Tell me what you think!

Cade Funnies

So, after looking back at all my older posts, I saw how many Rylee funnies I've shared. Cade stories have been seriously lacking. So here are some funny things Cade has said recently.

"Bigger"

Cade loves to talk about things he'll be able to do when he's "bigger bigger" (like hold guns and go hunting and shooting). On night as I'm tucking him in bed, I tell him how he keeps getting bigger and bigger every day. He replies "You're getting bigger bigger too Mom. And your belly is getting bigger bigger and your other belly too." (And this is after Telena was born).

"Handsome"

I was fixing Cade's hair for Church and told him how handsome he was. (He is such a cute little boy after all). And he gets mad at me- with a scowl on his face, and says "Mom, I not handsome." I say "Then what are you?"

"I just beautiful!"

Yep my beautiful bigger bigger boy.

ER story

Yep, story #3 was it. Such a sad little girl while they were sewing it up too. She sure didn't like being held still. Up until that she was still her smiley cute self. Ok here's what happened:

Telena woke up at about 8:30, I fed her while Cade was eating and before Rylee was awake. She finished and I put her down in the family room to crawl around while I made toast for Rylee (this is about 9:00 now). I finish the toast, tell Rylee to eat and then I hear that cry. The one where you know something happened. I didn't see what happened, but Cade was in the vicinity and got sent to time out before I even got to her. I picked up Telena and saw the injury. Near as I can tell, she was trying to stand in her sleep sack jammies and fell in to a shelf. Her cut was starting to drip so I grabbed a whole bunch of Kleenexes on the way to the bathroom. When I got there I could see how deep it was and I knew it needed stitches. I quickly called the Pediatrician's office, they said they don't do stitches there, so off to the ER we went. I'm buckling Telena in her car seat and yelling for Cade and Rylee to get their shoes and coats on. (They are all still in their jammies- Cade in shorts- and Rylee picks out sandals for her and Cade to wear! I happened to have gotten up early, exercise, shower and eat breakfast before all of this happened. I'm grateful I was ready for the day- just not this day.)

OK, so now it's 9:15, the kids are in the car and we're on the way to the hospital. Telena is still bleeding so I have to keep dabbing at it while I drive. The "Children's" Hospital is a few cities away (with the adrenaline, my mind is in hyper drive- it's close to her eye, what if she needs a specialist? what if she needs a pediatric Plastic Surgeon? So we pass up two other hospitals for that one.)

We get to the ER at 9:45 and sign in, then wait to be seen. I'm carrying Telena now, still dabbing at her wound, Cade and Rylee are watching TV and coloring paper that the volunteer at the desk gave us. We get to go in at 10:15, they take vitals and weight, then take us to a room. The doctor is in to see us at about 10:45, cleans it and looks at it. He decides to use surgical glue, but just as he goes to put it on, he decides not to. It's a little too deep and it's bleeding a lot still and it might get in her eye. So change of plans. The nurse gets the sutures and the doctor gets the numbing medication. And the aid comes in to help hold her. So the nurse, the aid and I are holding her (I'm mostly patting her to try and calm her down) while the doctor numbs it and does three nice little stitches. They're so tiny. (He left the string ends long though for easier removal btw, in case it looks funny in the picture.)

So there you go. She was fine and happy as soon as I held her after she was done. Overall not a bad first ER experience. We were done and on the way home at 11:20 with a stop at McDonald's for Happy Meals and a movie. I have to tell you though, having 3 kids in a tiny ER room (one being a 2 year old boy) was not fun. Cade was climbing on everything, pushing buttons, playing with the bed and even tore the magazine holder off the wall. Such fun. Next time I'll call someone to take the kids for me. Of course the next time will probably be his turn...

First Emergency Room Experience

Yesterday was my first experience taking one of the kids to the Emergency Room. But, before I reveal who it was and what it was for, a little quiz so you can guess. And I will post later today or tomorrow with a more detailed account.

SCENARIO #1

While at Cole's parent's house, Rylee found Grandpa's medicine container open on the bathroom counter. She thought the blood pressure medication looked like candy, so she ate it. The nice poison control lady suggested we take her in to the ER when she became a little too drowsy.

SCENARIO #2

Cade, trying out new daredevil feats of amazing height, was standing on top of the counter trying to get the hot chocolate down. He reached a little to far, lost his balance and fell to the floor- head first of course. He is OK, but then a few minutes later starts throwing up- a sign of a head injury, so we take him in.

SCENARIO #3

Telena, just after eating breakfast is still in her jammies (a little sleep sack sort of thing) and is trying to crawl and move around in the newly carpeted Family Room with limited success. She tries standing up next to the TV, falls and hits her forehead on the DVD shelf. It looks like a deep cut that might need stitches.

Blog Review

So I just read through all of my previous blog entries (it didn't take very long, that's for sure), and I realized a few things:

I need to post more
Write more about me
Write more about daily life
The pictures posted are mostly scrapbook layouts
Only a fraction of those layouts have actually been printed

So I think I will try to post more and see what happens! Wish me luck!

Me

I am... Tammy to people who know me well

I think... all year needs to be Christmastime

I know... that Jesus is my personal Savior

I want... my house to be all the way finished

I wish... there were more hours in a day

I had... pizza for dinner

I hate... ironing

I miss... seeing my sisters often

I fear... losing a loved one before I see them again

I feel ... tired (have a headache after marathon trip to the store today)

I hear... the kids playing in their room (and I hope they're not destroying it)

I smell ... the shampoo in my hair

I crave... chocolate

I search... for organizing solutions

I wonder... if we'll ever be all the way moved into our house

I regret... saying mean things to my sisters growing up

I love... my husband and kids

I care... that my kids are happy

I always... have chocolate chips on hand

I am not... the best housekeeper

I could... get off the computer and go play with kids, but I have a headache

I dance... with Rylee- practicing her ballet and tap dances for recital in December

I sing... when I put the kids to bed

I don't always... shower every day

I write... lists- everywhere

I win... the battle of wills at timeout (most of the time)

I lose... patience with the kids alot

I never... watch TV anymore- don't have it

I can usually be found...at home

I am scared of... mice and snakes

I need... time to think and a place to scrapbook

I am happy about... my new carpet!

I tag... all of you

Halloween

Ok, so when was I ever on time with posts? Here are pictures of our little cuties in their Halloween costumes. I wanted to take individual portrait type pictures of each of them. I took their pictures at our house. I wanted Rylee's to look like a princess in an enchanted forest. And for Cowboy Cade, I wanted a classic western scene and I took his picture by the pasture fence. And my little pumpkin, Telena, I wanted it to look like she was in a pumpkin patch, but all we had were the little pumpkins. They all turned out well I think. I haven't even retouched any of these here.

So for Halloween, our ward had a trunk or treat at the church, which was so much fun. We loved it- the kids had candy for weeks (it actually just ran out a few days ago) that we used it for potty treats to encourage Cade to potty train. Cole and I didn't dress up, just for the record.

Tag!

Maria tagged me to post the 4th picture in the 4th folder- so since I'm just downloading pictures from my camera right now- here it is!

Telena eating watermelon at the beginning of this month. She got the best sour face eating it and that's what this picture is trying to show. It was the funniest thing! Thanks for the fun tag Maria!

Rylee at 5 years old

1. What is something mom always says to you? "No."
2. What makes mom happy? "When we go to bed good."
3. What makes mom sad? "When we don't go to bed good."
4. How does your mom make you laugh? "Tickling."
5. What was your mom like as a child? "Nice."
6. How old is your mom? "13"
7. How tall is your mom? "Big as daddy's shoulder."
8. What is her favorite thing to do? "Go to bed, have some sleep."
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? "Look for you and yell for you."
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? "Angry."
11. What is your mom really good at? "Doing dishes and cooking dinner."
12. What is your mom not very good at? "Making breakfast."
13. What does your mom do for her job? "Clean up toys. Make kids sick at the hospital."
14. What is your mom's favorite food? "Pasta."
15. What makes you proud of your mom? "Drinking soda."
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? "A pretty car."
17. What do you and your mom do together? "Playing with lights. Do crafts together."
18. How are you and your mom the same? "Having blond hair."
19. How are you and your mom different? "Having yellow hair and brown hair."
20. How do you know your mom loves you? "When she has her heart on me."

I saw these questions on Megan's blog and just had to ask Rylee on her birthday.

We went to the mall for her birthday to get pictures taken and spend some of her birthday money at The Disney Store (thanks Mom!) and she had so much fun. They did really well at the mall- except the few minutes that I wanted to look in a store for clothes for me of course. Rylee always asks to go to the mall- she loves it. When she gets to pick what to do for her Daddy/Daughter Date she always wants to go there. So Cole only lets her pick every once in a while when he can stand going there (usually around Mother's Day and my birthday/Christmas when they go to pick out a present for me).

Some things that Rylee does right now (cute and not so cute):

Take care of her "Pretty Bear" baby- she feeds her (like mommy) and has to tuck her into bed almost every night- next to her in the middle of the Boppy pillow.

She slips into baby talk pretty often and I have to tell her that I can't understand her (and sometimes more than once).

She loves to check on the animals. It's her job to feed the fish. And she loves holding the baby chicks.

She likes to clean- but only when she wants to. If I ask her to do something she won't do it, but when the mood strikes, she will clean anything in sight with a Clorox wipe.

We are doing Joyschool at home and she loves being the helper for the day to pick out the snack or get the craft aprons out or whatever.

She can write her name. She loves practicing letters and learning the alphabet. She does her name pretty well. It's the cutest thing.

She is going to be a princess for Halloween this year and she got to pick out her own costume.

Some words she still has trouble saying, but I can't bring myself to correct her because it's the cutest thing and I know all too soon she will be saying it all correctly: "berry" is very, "hosipal" is hospital, "four-leeler" is four-wheeler. Oh, one of the pig's names is Mischief, but she says it as "Mooschief." Also she says "granilla bar" for granola bar and "willn't" for won't.

Here we are!

Here's the link to make your own: http://www.faceyourmanga.com/homepage.php?lang=eng

This was fun! Today Cole is out hunting and so that's why he's got an orange hat. And I'm home (supposed to be) doing dishes and cleaning. Why clean when you can make custom avatars?

Anyway. Today is Rylee's birthday- only we told her the party is on Sunday, so we don't celebrate without Cole. I can't believe she's five already. Time flies.

Hurricanes

So with Hurricane Ike hitting my hometown a week ago, it really brought back memories of the big storms we went through growing up. It felt like a grand adventure at the time, when now it would seem a little scary. I remember being really little and waking up under my bed one morning after a hurricane. I remember seeing our little bike shed that was supposed to be in our backyard- was now in our neighbor's backyard. I was at that age where you think your dad is a giant and I remember him climbing over the fence to get the shed and it seemed like he just took one big step over it and carried the shed back to where it belonged.


I remember taking a walk around our neighborhood after a big storm and wading through the water and then swimming. I think there's a picture of it somewhere. I think it was this same storm too where we saw someone canoeing down our street.



The sound of pounding rain and hail is something that really reminds me of home. It rained here through the night and in the morning I opened the windows and let the cool air in as we laid in bed and listened to the rain and thunder and watched the lightning. We counted the time between lightning and thunder and tried to calculate how far away it was.
Reminds me of home...
and I'm so glad that home is still there and that everything is ok.

Telena

I have the cutest two tooth grin right now. And I giggle and giggle whenever I'm tickled. I can also scoot around and try to crawl. My mom is going to have so much fun trying to chase me.

So who says that you don't take as many pictures of the younger kids? The camera sure loves this little cutie bug! She's seriously as sweet as she looks. Everyone says that she's the happiest baby in the world and I quite agree. And those cheeks are the most kissable-est ever! Love Love Love her two-tooth grin. And the way she scoots around. Too adorable. I just love this age. So into looking around and soaking in everything around her. And the best part- she can't talk yet! Oh, but she'll be a friendly little thing and she'll be talking my ear off soon enough, but for right now I just love her the way she is. I want to bottle up her little laugh and her big grins and save them for when she's older and I need a baby snuggle or two.

Cade

Loves all thing boy related and copies everything that Dad does. He picks up sticks and puts them to his shoulder saying that he is hunting deer or elk. He can turn anything into a gun. Some favorites are: hangers, Legos and food. He climbs on everything possible and throws everything that he picks up, especially rocks or really anything remotely round. He also gives the best hugs and kisses, especially to Telena. He's the one who's always trying to pick her up. I have to watch him closely so that he doesn't smother her. Oh, and we borrowed Old Yeller from Cole's mom last week- the kids wanted to watch it 3 times a day, but they would play pretend from it. Cade would always be Travis so that he could go get his gun and shoot the wolf/deer, etc. Such a sweet little boy though. I wonder if this is what Cole was like as a little boy. We love him so much.

Rylee

Her imagination is in full swing now. She loves dress-up and princess. She especially loves having Cade old enough to participate and was very spoiled by the family camp out having someone to play with all the time. She lives in skirts at all times, begrudgingly changing when forced to. She loves fixing Mom's hair and picking out her clothes (which is always a skirt). She loves coloring and drawing and can write her own name! I need to take a picture of her name to show everyone, but it's so cute! She is such a little girl now. She loves crafts too (don't know where she got that from). She's so cute- equally happy playing in the dirt or playing house and princess. She also lives for her Daddy/Daughter dates. She's going shooting with Cole tonight and they're both looking forward to it. Our little sweetie.

Ok, so finally a new post. Here's what we have been up to this summer.

On the 4th of July we went to the Middleton City parade- nothing big or fancy, just a cute small town parade, but they sure throw lots of candy. The kids loved scooping up the treats and they ate them all before we even got home! Then just before bed (it wasn't even dark yet) we did fireworks and sparklers. The kids loved it. The picture of Cole here is him lighting the fireworks.... with a blowtorch.

The story behind the blowtorch: So a few years ago (I think it was the first 4th of July at our house in Utah) we had found some old sparklers and wanted to use them. Were you there Laura and Maria? I don't remember. Anyway, we had some trouble lighting them. So instead of holding matches up to them to get them started and burning you fingers because they wouldn't go, Cole thought of a better way- his trusty propane blowtorch. LOL I love him. File this under "I love being married to an engineer" ;)

More updates soon.

House

Here is a picture of our new house! Sorry it's taken so long to get posted. Everyone asks if we are moved in or settled yet. Um, sort of. All of our stuff is here now! We have several big projects ahead of us. We have a list for Home Depot a foot long. We are getting windows replaced, painting every wall (and some ceilings) and new carpet. And we hope to be done in a few weeks. Then there's the outside stuff to tackle. So better get off the computer. See you later.

baby's room

I just wanted to share pictures of the bedding I just bought for Telena's room.

But here's what it looks like now:

And a close-up:
Yes- tan with dark purple trim. The room looks better now. We did some work in there on Saturday. We scraped the ceiling- it had the popcorn texture ceiling, Cole ripped out the carpet and took off some of the trim. It looks alot better now. We are redoing 3 of the bedrooms like this. So much fun.

Photo Shazam

Found a quick way to punch up the color in my pictures here:

http://spraguelab.squarespace.com/

She has different tutorials for Photoshop and I just adapt them to the GIMP. For example today:

original picture

after

All Baby

As my sister told me today, it's been years since i posted. So here are pictures of the baby. Telena's first 2 months.

Eye Candy

Papers by Dianne Rigdon at shabbyelements.com; Frames from Peppermint Creative; Lace and Alpha by Gina Cabrera at digitaldesignessentials.com.

Papers by Dianne Rigdon from Shabby Elements. Template by Janet Phillips at scrapbook graphics. Font: SP Holy Guacamole.

My little sweetie posing for the camera! Purple background, clips and ribbons by Gina Cabrera at digital design essentials; Flowers by Gina Miller at ginamillerdesigns; butterfly by Michelle Underwood at scrapbook-bytes; paper label and staples by Lynn G at designer digitals. font: SP Wonderful Wendy.

Flowers, Papers, label and stitching from SBB kit For the Love; Template by Janet Phillips at scrapbook graphics; Ribbon and frames by Gina Cabrera at DDE; Alpha by Dianne Rigdon at Shabby Elements.

Papers, snowflakes, alpha by Gina Cabrera at DDE; Template by Janet Phillips at SBG.

This is some Scrapbooking stuff I've been working on lately. It's been fun buying stuff, so now I just have to use it!

SOLD!!!

OUR HOUSE FINALLY SOLD!!! YAY!!!!!!!!

Can you tell we are excited? I can't believe it still. And the timing is perfect- everything should be finished and done with by the time Baby #3 comes (she doesn't have a name yet- we're still looking). I'm really going to have 3 kids soon? Someone pinch me!

I just started a new job too. And everyone I meet asks me if this is my first kid. I take it as a complement that I don't look old/haggard enough to have 2 little ones already. That's the first comment I get and then they ask when I'm due and when I tell them, they say I look so small. Oh, if only. I am already over my highest weight with either pregnancy and I still have a couple of weeks left. I guess it's just great being tall. Anyway. That's about it going on here.

Rules of a Toddler

I saw this online today and just loved it! Cade is in definite toddler mode. He gets into everything- never underestimate the curiosity and exporing nature of a little boy! Good heavens. Just yesterday at church he figured out the door knob- not just a regular door knob. The childproof covered door knob! Sheesh.

The Rules of a Toddler!
If it is on, I must turn it off.
If it is off, I must turn it on.
If it is folded, I must unfold it.
If it is a liquid, it must be shaken, then spilled.
If it a solid, it must be crumbled, chewed or smeared.
If it is high, it must be reached.
If it is shelved, it must be removed.
If it is pointed, it must be run with at top speed.
If it has leaves, they must be picked.
If it is plugged, it must be unplugged.
If it is not trash, it must be thrown away.
If it is in the trash, it must be removed, inspected, and thrown on the floor.
If it is closed, it must be opened.
If it does not open, it must be screamed at.
If it has drawers, they must be rifled.
If it is a pencil, it must write on the refrigerator, monitor, or table.
If it is full, it will be more interesting emptied.
If it is empty, it will be more interesting full.
If it is a pile of dirt, it must be laid upon.
If it is stroller, it must under no circumstances be ridden in without protest.
It must be pushed by me instead.
If it has a flat surface, it must be banged upon.
If Mommy's hands are full, I must be carried.
If Mommy is in a hurry and wants to carry me, I must walk alone.
If it is paper, it must be torn.
If it has buttons, they must be pressed.
If the volume is low, it must go high.
If it is toilet paper, it must be unrolled on the floor.
If it is a drawer, it must be pulled upon.
If it is a toothbrush, it must be inserted into my mouth.
If it has a faucet, it must be turned on at full force.
If it is a phone, I must talk to it.
If it is a bug, it must be swallowed.
If it doesn't stay on my spoon, it must be dropped on the floor.
If it is not food, it must be tasted.If it IS food, it must not be tasted.
If it is dry, it must be made wet with drool, milk, or toilet water.
If it is a car seat, it must be protested with arched back.

If it is Mommy, it must be hugged.