October 29, 2009

Halloween, Halloween... everybody SCREAM!!

Am I glad it's over... for this year at least! :) It was just one thing after another and even though I got pictures of some of the things we did... I didn't get time to post them, so here (in backwards order) is a very large compilation of our Halloween activities in 2009.
Aram the Ewok didn't like our friend Nate the Wookie.

He even walks bowlegged like an Ewok!


Jasper had the voice down... "I'm Hermione Granger, and you are..."

Daddy loves Halloween and painted this bat on his girl,.. she loved it!

Trick-or-Treating with Jasper's class on Friday... She is practicing her spell work in the background.

The pumpkin Patch at Sutherland Farms on Wednesday was C-O-L-D! 1st snow of the season came on the wrong day!


Aram loves slides and the corn pit was a new twist on the fun!

Swift thought the corn looked tasty!

Whats more fun that riding in a barrel behind a tractor?

Pumpkin carving was a lazy Monday (Jasper didn't have school) activity.


"It feels YUCKY!"

Aram didn't want anything to do with this mess!

There ya have it... too much fun for one week! :) Can't wait until next year!

October 20, 2009

Two of my favorite things about Jasper,... She loves to sleep! When she wakes up she wants to be cuddled! Aram, on the other hand, wants to go, Go, GO as soon as he opens his eyes. I usually get him out of his crib when he wakes up and bring him to my bed in an attempt to cuddle him and let Jasper get a little more Zzz's.
This is the routine...

Let the wrestling and mischief begin.
As soon as I get sick of trying to contain him, I let him go find his 'Sis Sis'

He wakes her up in the sweetest way,.. a good hair yank or smack to the head!


Then it's cuddle time!
This morning we watched the Sunrise from her bedroom window. (you can see it's reflection behind her)




I love our mornings... It's the simple things that make Life so fun, right?

October 17, 2009

Fun at the Mall

Columbus Day... what to do? Go to Mall with cousins to ride on the little machines, of course!

I had to include this one because of Aric posing in the back! ;)

New additions to our family

Thursday night, Aric and I made an excursion to pick up a long awaited and anticipated item...

I can't even remember when our old one broke, it's been that long ago. It has been such a treat getting to do the Wash at my own house!! I don't think I will complain about doing laundry any time soon...
While we were waiting for the incredibly slow people to load the Washer at Best Buy, be went to the Petco next door. Jasper has been asking us if she can get a Hamster for a while now, and my Mom got a Guinea Pig for her classroom recently so the asking has now turned into pleading. We found a cute little Dwarf Hamster for $11 and brought it home as well. It was late when we picked the kids up from Grammie and Papa's, so she didn't see it until the next morning...

She aptly named him Speedy. :)

October 13, 2009

Our week with the 'Piggies'

Well, the good news is... my kids don't need the Swine Flu Vaccine now!
It was a looooonnng week, but we made it and Jasper went off to school this morning after being home for over a week. Despite the rain this morning, this week looks MUCH brighter.
My poor little girl was SOOO sick! Luckily she got Tamiflu, so it didn't last as long as it could have. She did have residual Asthma problems that kept us up at night, but it could have been much worse!

We took a short break between kids getting sick (Jasper was no longer contagious and Aram hadn't gotten it yet) and went Bowling... had I known Aram was going to get sick DESPITE being on the Tamiflu, we wouldn't have gone. We were very tired of being cooped up at home, though.


It began again with Aram getting a rash covering his entire body and a HIGH fever (104.5). Back to the Dr. to find out that he now had the Swine Flu and needed to up his dosage frequency of Tamiflu.


About that time, Aric's car broke down again! (Thank you Trenton for all your help, you are so kind!) We missed Jasper's Parent/Teacher conference for the 2nd time and Mommy (I) had a meltdown! Whew, could it get any worse?
Then I found out about a friend whose house had completely burned down, destroying all their possessions. Yes, it could certainly be worse! That brought reality back and I remembered how blessed I am. TRULY!

We even had some fun just being together this last week. Jasper and Aram had a lot of time to play. They are so darling that sometimes I wonder whose they are! :)

(Also,.. Sorry Grammie and Papa, for giving you the Piggie Flu, too!)

To Homeschool, or NOT!

Last night during Family Home Evening, Aric was giving the lesson on Faith. Jasper was being a little pill and wasn't really trying to pay attention or answer his questions. So, being the more FORCEFUL parent, I started in on how it's our job to teach her and her job to learn... blah, blah, blah.
After I was done with my tirade, she responds "Mom, they teach me at school." I'm sure in her mind, she was not thinking I'm not doing my job as a Mother, but this is how I took it and another tirade began!
I tried to explain to her how Heavenly Father is proud of her when she learns to read and spell, but what she learns at home is much more important, that she needs to learn about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it is her parents job to teach her that. I kind of went off really, but it scared me!
I do think public education is important, but I KNOW that children need their Parents' teaching more than anything else. The home is where they learn to be good people, it is where we hone the skills that they are learning in school, it is where we teach them the value's we hold dear in our lives whether that be through Religion or not.
So, it really got me thinking... If she doesn't understand that, maybe I should Homeschool full time! NO, I don't really think that, but I do want my little girl to understand and know that everything I do as a parent is to TEACH her. She is only 6, but I am wanting some validation from her. :)
I'm sure some day she will understand, but it surprised me how much it hurt to hear this from her and I want her to understand TODAY!! Motherhood just keeps getting harder! :)


She loved the way I fixed her hair into a bun on Sunday, so a Photoshoot ensued...
She really gets into this, she does her own poses and faces. Such a girl!



Aric has been telling me for years that I SHOULD homeschool, and while I don't feel it is necessary (and I don't think I would be any good at it), there may come a time when it is. I hope I will be prepared to TEACH her then, and I pray that I can make Heavenly Father proud of my skills,.. as a Mother/Teacher/Nurturer.

October 5, 2009

Don't we have the RIGHT to know?

Okay, so this post will be a RANT... just warning you ahead of time!
Here is the gist... My little girl has the Swine Flu. YIKES! Right? You would think so, with all the hype this illness has gotten. But let me start at the beginning...
Jasper started feeling yucky yesterday (just a slight cough and some chills) but we didn't worry too much as there are so many colds and stuff going around right now. I decided to keep her home today because she was coughing a bit more and now had a runny nose. By this afternoon, (24 hours later) she was a sick little girl. High fever, sore throat, burning eyes, ears hurt, runny nose, constant coughing. About the time she is starting to worry me, I get a call from my Mother (who is a 1st grade Teacher at Jasper's school). Apparently, a little boy in Jasper's class (whom she plays with all the time) was not TESTED as positive H1N1, but was told by a Dr. that he had it. So, I quickly call the Dr.'s office (it is now 4pm) and am told to bring her right in.
On the way, I start drilling Aric about the facts he knows about H1N1 (I have shied away from all the media hype attached to this "Pandemic" so I know only the scary stuff). He informs me that we may be bringing her in for NOTHING, as they won't treat anyone over 5 years old. WHAT?? Why do they scare people about it so much, if there is nothing they will do?
So, we arrive at the office just as some children wearing masks are leaving, but are not asked to wear one ourselves. Hmmm,... I don't see the point to the masks since they are not really keeping virus'/bacteria out of the air, but am still a little disturbed that we were not asked to do so. She got the test, the Dr. came in with the positive results and said that she would treat Aram with the prophylactic Tamiflu, but not Jasper. URGG!! Let's not treat this obviously sick little girl, but do treat the one that is NOT sick. This is what I was afraid of, but I forestalled her by explaining Jasper's background of being a Preemie with compromised lungs and continuing Asthma. OH, IN THAT CASE... they did in fact treat her with Tamiflu.
Getting the RX was a NIGHTMARE! No one in town has it, the Compounding Pharmacy that makes it doesn't have anyone to do so right now, and finally they find a Pharmacy with 3 bottles left (exactly how much we need). So, off we go to get it.
In the meantime, Aric has to call his work (the La Plata County Jail) because they freak out if anyone is exposed to it, and is told not to come in for 72 hours, and to go get his Flu vaccination immediately. Holy Cow! Overreact much?

So, here is what I am fuming about the most... There are people out there who don't know they have it and do just fine. There are people who know they have it but are told to just treat it like a normal cold or flu. There are a FEW cases where people do indeed get VERY sick and even die but is that enough to justify scaring the whole nation? Just hearing "Swine Flu" or "H1N1 Virus" makes most people panic. Jeesh!
Then on the other hand, why is the protocol so varied from school to school? My Niece's Elementary school will call the parents if there is even a suspected case. Yet, upon finding out that a student in my Daughter's class was told he had it, the Principal's inclination was to cover it up. Don't tell the parents because it is not a Test-verified case.
It is just a good thing my Mom works there, and we found out through her. If my little girl had gotten much sicker I would've been irate that I was not told. In fact I am still irate because in the meantime we have exposed 2 young cousins and an Immunosuppressed Grammie.
Don't parents have a right to know these things? Don't we also have a right to choose treatment? Not everyone is high risk and they should be informed of the dangers of always treating resulting in an immunity to the treatment, but it should STILL be our choice. I am a HUGE fan of Naturopathic medicine, but I also know that Western Medicine is what saved my Daughter's life to begin with. I want an informed choice, not a Media-scared directive... if you please! :)