I Survived!!!!

Jared left me this weekend. He said it was something about needing more testosterone from the mountains. Maybe he left because I had offered to watch five extra kids over night. I have to admit, I was a little nervous about being a single parent to nine kids. But guess what: we all survived! The kids were great!!! They all played together, slept wonderfully (I actually got more sleep than I do any normal night), ate all their food (I even included a fruit with dinner) and they cleaned when asked. The wiggle bikes kept us all entertained for hours, even 15 month old Olivia. My nephew became our tribal chief (I will have to include pictures of that later...I am too lazy to put them on the computer right now.) I do have to say, I was a little nervous when the power flickered this morning...how would I keep them all entertained inside with no TV all day? Luckily, it did only flicker, and the rain stopped so they could play outside some more. Thank goodness for garages to play in, and good old fashioned fort building. I think fort building must be a special event saved only for when a babysitter is around. I can remember my cousin Jeni babysitting us and building the most awesome forts.

The kids all lived until their moms came to pick them up. It was my own kid who suffered an injury. Ainsley fell down the stairs and broke her thumb/hand Friday night. Being the great MOM that I am I gave her some Tylenol, and took everyone to the playground. (Note: I said MOM, not BABYSITTER. If it was anyone else's kid I would have taken them to the doctor sooner.) She was playing just fine, so obviously her hand was all right. However, the next morning it was really swollen and purple. After arranging for some awesome young women to come help Emily watch the other seven kids, I finally took Ainsley to the doctor. Sure enough, the doctor is pretty sure the bone at the base of her thumb is broke. Something about weird bone shapes makes him have a little doubt about the fracture. Needless to say, she did live through all this, so...we all survived!

Only 20ish more hours till Jared comes home. Hopefully we stay in the survived category!

John Deere?

Let me start with some background info: Today is Jared's birthday. He works for Wheeler Machinery, which is a Caterpillar dealer. Our family LOVES Cat (they pay the bills) and HATES John Deere (Ask the kids, they will say John Deere stinks)

This morning at 6:20 Jared leaves for work. He comes back into the house to tell me to come look outside. The Birthday Bandits had struck!

"Nothing runs like a Deere, not even Jared on his 35th birthday!

The kids are all dying to hit at the John Deere pinata with the Cat bat. They are anxiously awaiting Dad to get home so we can "tear that thing to pieces" (Tyler's exact words)

The poem on the garage door reads:

Deere John,

Your motor was sluggish, I thought it was rubbish, on I put on the brakes, but you flaked.

I thought you were pulling a prank, you turned out to just be a crank.

So I shifted gears and thought about your rear. But when it came to driving the shaft, you choked.

I just wish you would've croaked.

Even if you lose your spare tire my Deere, you broke my heart you old fart.

So take your green machine and make like steam cuz this old Cat is done with that,

Love, Cat

They did a great job of proclaiming our "love" for John Deere. As each kid woke up this morning they again shouted their feelings of hatred. Why would anyone do this they asked?

Jared did smile at all the poems and writing. Great job Birthday Bandits! Thank you!

This is a perfect opportunity to post another event in our family. Sunday was Family Day at Kennecott. My mom's husband works there, and they invited us to go up to see the new Cat truck that was just built there. After waiting in the hot sun for about an hour, it was our turn to climb up to see this giant Cat 795F. It is the biggest vehicle at Kennecott.

For our family, we hope this truck spells Job Security!

GO CAT!!!!!!

Wiggle Bikes

For quite some time I have wanted to do a post about our family's Wiggle Bikes! They are an awesome toy that our neighbors have. For months our kids begged to have their own. We held them off for quite some time, not only because of cost, but because I didn't think they would actually use them two weeks after we bought them. In a weak moment their push-over Dad made the purchase. That was in April, and they are still a hit! Although the bikes look easy, they are quite a workout to use, at least for me! The kids all love to ride down our driveway and onto the sidewalk (on only two wheels) and then wiggle to the neighbors who have a down sloping driveway. They ride these for HOURS. They have even convinced the neighbor's shitszu dog to pull them (Sorry, you'll just have to take my word for it, I haven't caught that one on camera yet). They pretend they are sled dogging.

Last weekend we took the kids and wiggle bikes to a park with a hill so they could ride. Of course everyone at the park had to take a turn. Everywhere we go people want to try them out.

I even took a turn on the hill!

Well, tonight a group of friends (the youngest being the birthday girl turning 27) went out for ice cream. Somehow we got on the subject of wiggle bikes, so I suggested we take the bikes to the park for a ride. At 10:30 we show up at the park. We surprised a couple making out in the park. I think we shocked them when we stayed for 45 minutes laughing our heads off. We all took turns riding down the hill. The turn proved a little scary for some people, but there were no injuries!!!!! We all had a BLAST!!! I wouldn't be surprised if within a few weeks half our ward owns their own wiggle bikes. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be the kids owning them, just the adults.

Jodi-LaLa: the birthday girl (we let her use the pink wiggle bike)

Sheri finally got the hill figured out, after about 5 tries!

The only bad part about the night was that there were only five wiggle bikes for seven of us!

Tonight definitely rates right up there with the night some friends and I went toilet papering at 9:00 pm (it was dark). And that was just last year! I have awesome friends....if you ever need a laugh, just call us. We can make you laugh till you pee, especially since this is what happens on a good night with friends after the age of 30!!!!!!

Wiggle Bike Info: If you are buying a wiggle bike, make sure you buy a Plasma Car. They get the best reviews for working the best. Wiggle bikes can hold 220 pounds! They can be found for the best price on eBay. Lia did find them on Target.com with free shipping. She has already ordered two, and she says they are for her kids. Like we really believe her!

Trek

Jared and I had the opportunity to be a Ma and Pa at our stake's Pioneer Trek last week. I am still emotional about the whole thing, so I don't think I can blog much about it. It was the most amazing experience for both of us. The stake let the 12 year olds attend, so Emily got to go also. She isn't sure if she ever wants to go again, but I would go again next week if I could. We walked 28 miles in three days. (It was a four day trek, but the third day's walk was basically a walk around the block.) Jared even lived to tell about it! The second day we looked like a bunch on 90 year olds hobbling around camp, but somehow we still did 6 miles that day plus a hoe-down.

My testimony grew yards that week. It inspired me to see so many youth all there with the same standards and morals. It seemed like there were so many life lessons in everything that happened on trek. I have a whole new appreciation for the pioneers. They had so much faith, and such a desire to follow the Lord. We were blessed with six excellent children that made the experience that much better. We shared so many testimony building moments with them. I really need to learn to journal so I can write all this down before I forget it all.

Poor Lizzie, we took Emily to Disneyland for her birthday. We were gone on trek for Lizzie's birthday. Luckily she is a fairly forgiving child and only complained a little. She is blessed with awesome friends who fed her chocolate cake and took her to Lagoon to celebrate her special day. (In addition to taking on three extra kids for three days! Thank you!!!!!!)

After back to back girl's camp and then trek, summer can officially begin at our house. Lagoon or the pool anyone?

Justified

Have you ever had to justify the food you eat?

Say for instance, the cup of spinach artichoke dip you ate has vegetables in it. OR- the chips you ate the dip with had no trans-fat. (Does anything have trans-fat anymore?) OR- the cookies you ate were made with dark chocolate which is healthier than milk chocolate. OR- the chocolate covered strawberries you ate are healthy because they have two food groups, fruit and dairy. OR- the 44 ounce drink you bought was Diet Coke, not regular Coke, AND you didn't drink it all.

Let's just say you ate all this food in one evening (AFTER dinner).....would you justify it by the two miles you walked that day?

Heres the Story

Contrary to what you all think, I think my hair is brown. I just don't see the red. I see other people's red hair, just not my own. Sometimes I will see some red highlights if the sun hits it just right. I get teased unmercifully about this. It is quite the family joke now. Ainsley has informed me several times that she thinks my hair is orange, but it can be brown if I want it to be. I have always wanted a red head child, and Lizzie has graciously offered to dye her hair for me. Jared is always on the look out for people with the same color of hair as me so he can show me. I was in Lizzie's class reading with a girl last year. We were both bent over the book and our hair was all blended together. I couldn't tell which hair belonged to who. Before that day, I called her hair red. Now it must be brown. We have some dear friends with three red haired girls (how unfair is that!). I was walking with their strawberry blonde one day and a picture was taken. When they looked at that picture later they commented about our same hair color. (I would post that picture if I could find it)

Either all of you are blind, or I must succumb to being a red head. I will now call my hair red, as long as none of you say it is orange.... ugh!

.....Does this mean I have a red head temper?

Hair

Due to recent events in my life (teasing and questioning) I have a question to ALL fellow bloggers.

What color is my hair?

Please comment and answer honestly!

Unfortunately, because I am always behind the camera I do not have a picture for you to look at. Hopefully I am not too unforgettable and you can remember what I look like!