Asthma.. Strep... SERIOUSLY!

Ok so this weekend and TODAY has been another one of those "SERIOUSLY" days for me. (For all you Grey's Anatomy Fan's - this word seems to be something I use as much as the characters in the show!) Luke's Asthma flared up and he's getting very little sleep. This is not good for my mischevious, red-headed 5 year old! It makes for MUCH crankier days! The Poor kid coughs so hard I swear his lung is going to come out of his mouth one of these days. We are so lucky that his asthma isn't where he's wheezing and short of breath. That gets to scary, but this is scary enough for me.

THEN, as if we needed more - Michael woke up with a sore throat and stomachache today. I didn't know if it was one of those "I don't want to go to school" excuses or if he was really sick. I decided to go ahead and let him stay home (I figured with all the tears I got from ONE dose of Ibuprofen something must be up). I finally had him take a little nap when he looked like he was going to drop, and when he woke up his fever spiked to 102. First, this kid NEVER takes a nap. It doesn't matter if he's sick or not, he WON'T nap. So that was clue number 1 that he wasn't ok. Clue number 2 is the obvious fever. Michael is my super-immune kid that never gets sick. So for him to be this down and out had me calling the doc. Sure enough, the rapid-strep came back positive. SERIOUSLY! We want to go to Utah this weekend so I really hope this doesn't hit anyone else. Or if it does it has to happen tomorrow so I have enough time to get drugs in these guys before we head out! ARGH!

Oh well. On a lighter note - Ms. Brynley had a great time playing "mommy" to sick brother (before we realized it was strep). After her nap she wanted to "snuggle" him and read him a story. So cute!

PS. So what did you Grey's Anatomy Fans think of this week? I think there's some good stuff coming up. Those previews had me a little worried! I also watched ER later and was quite disappointed they would kill someone off in the first show of the last season!

New Project..

I came across Sandi Henderson's blog and fell in love with her boutique style patterns. Her website just came up and I just ordered the cupcake pin cushion (I just HAVE to have one of these.. even if I do have to make (or attempt) to make it myself. I also bought the Claire Pattern, which is absolutely adorable! Now to just get some fabric... and try to remember some sewing skills from back in my 4-H days!

I want new bedding..

This would make me happy (and broke!)

I love Potterybarn.. and I would love BLACK nighstands and some type of BLACK bed.. we still don't have a bed frame. In Dec. we will have been married 9 years, and we still do not have a real Bed frame (that metal thing doesn't count - and we only recently got a metal bed frame. We used to use cinder blocks so we could store stuff under there during our "college" days.) Oh - and the bedding I have now definately doesn't match, and I'm using the SAME down comforter and cover that I took to BYU with me 10 years ago! Paired with nasty flannel sheets that need to be replaced.. Yuck huh! The other downside is we're still renting, so any decorating ideas would have to be somewhat limited. sigh. Either way - I'd LOVE to have this comforter cover at the very least (with matching shams of course!)

It's almost here...

I have been waiting ALL summer for the return of Grey's Anatomy. I don't know WHY I am so hooked, but I am - so nothing better get in the way of my Thursday night obsession!

A little light reading...

Brynley has been telling us lately when she needs to use the toilet to poop (too bad she hasn't gone pee on it yet!). She was sitting there doing her thing while I was tidying the bathroom counter and when I turned around to check on her, this is what she was "reading." I guess we're starting young around here! It was just TOO funny! The look on her face is just so serious!

Waiting for the food to cook

Too cute!

Here to Protect

Some things have been happening at school that I NEVER in a million years, dreamed that a child of mine would have to deal with, let alone even KNOW about. There are so many horrible things, words, actions, etc. in the world today - how can I possibly keep my children safe from everything?! Today I learned that I can't. It's amazing that children so young can have such problems and can have such troubled lives. I just really hope that I can teach my children enough to stay strong and to do what is right in a world where right may not be the popular choice. I hope that as this situation is resolved we can handle it in a way that can strengthen him. It's too bad they can't stay little and naive forever.

WINNER and that darn vampire book...

3 down, 1 more to go.... so far I'm really into number 4, but I've only gotten through the first few chapters. I'll be into the book until it's finished. I'm so glad I didn't start this series until the last book had almost come out. I don't think I would have been able to stand the wait between new books!

This has been a busy weekend. Steven and I went to Time out for Couples at the Boise Center on the Grove. It was SO good! The speakers were so funny, and the music was great. Saturday we spent some time down at Julia Davis for Art at the Park. My uncle was helping one of the vendors so he stayed with us for the weekend. It's always fun to see him - my kids think he's SO funny! Then we went to The Little Gym (where Brynley and Luke take gymnastics) and it was their open house for the opening of the new Boise Location. We put in the kids' names for the drawings and Brynley's name was drawn for a Free Birthday Party! WHOO HOO! I'm still undecided if she'll get to use it or we'll let Luke use it. She seems a little young, but I know she'd have a blast. That's still over 6 months away - plenty of time to decide! Back to the daily grind of school. Brynley is getting her ears checked again tomorrow, hopefully we'll be in the clear and we won't need to do tubes again! She has done so well, no ear infections, but it's the fluid they've been checking for.

Meet Zoe

Yes... we now have a hamster. She is a dwarf hamster and supposedly doesn't have all that ammonia in her urine so she shouldn't be as "smelly" as other types of hamsters. We'll see about that! This is all for the kids - to help them learn responsibility.... Still trying to decide what I think. The kids absolutely love it, which makes it a little better but the darn thing BIT me and drew blood today while I was carefully trying to free it from its cardboard box! Not starting off to well are we? Michael thought of the name Zoe and all the other 2 cheerfully agreed - so here's ZOE.

Flower Girl

More to come....

Dress Help!!!!

So, Brynley is supposed to wear this dress for my nieces wedding saturday and it isn't scheduled to arrive at my house until thursday (tomorrow) we are leaving friday morning and I could not find someone that wanted to hem it for me that quick. (I'm totally assuming it needs hemmed because Brynley has such short little legs!) I have NEVER sewed on Organza and I have no idea what to do or what I need to sew on this. I'm just hoping I don't totally screw it up. Please help!

OH! And if anyone has ideas on what to do on such FINE and STRAIGHT hair for Brynley - her hair doesn't hold curl at all!

2 down, 1 to go...

Well, two kids are now in school full-time. We decided to place Luke in the All-day kindergarten (they do charge a fee to go all day), so they are both gone from the time the bus arrives at 8:05am until the bus drops them off at 3:40. I still have Brynley at home so I'm not quite "FREE" yet, but it will be a nice break. Here's some cute photos from yesterday. They are SO excited to be going to school and especially to ride the bus. I'll have to get some photos of them with the bus (with my camera that just arrived today! WHOO HOO!) - tomorrow will be the first time they BOTH get to ride to school together!

AND.. for any of you that have heard of the HUGE fire the ravaged through a Boise neighborhood last night - luckily it wasn't ours, but it was across the street from our subdivision and up the hill. The whole area along the road we travel down on the south side is blackened. It was definately a little too close to home. For those of you who haven't heard you can read about it and see photos here. I'm sure it will be front page for a few days. It really reinforced in me the need to be more prepared. Many of these families only had seconds to get out of their homes. One lady did not make it out. Some homes burned completely to the ground in just 3 minutes. I think the count was 10 homes completely lost, 9 damaged and around 50? were evacuated. If I were to have just minutes to evacuate would I know where all my "important" stuff is? (Uh.. no, it's all still in boxes of course!) Just a little something to think about (and perhaps a new project!)

Awesome Freebie, Birthday Party and... She's on the way!!

So check out our new FREE piano! I was sitting at my computer when I got an email from my previous RS president, stating she knew of someone who's caregiver was giving away a piano... FOR FREE! On one condition.. it had to go to a good home where it would be appreciated! I was ALL over that email and called as quickly as my fingers could dial! We picked it up this weekend when we were home and our only costs were gas and the small uhaul trailer we used to bring it home! Not bad for a free piano! It seems to be in pretty good shape too! It's probably a 1960-1970 Werlitzer spinet with a matching bench. Steven says it smells like "Old Person," Which I guess is true - anyone know how to remove that type of smell? It has improved a little bit since cleaning it (it was very dusty and I assume it was in a smokers home for a while by the amount of yellowish dush I cleaned off of it) But despite the smell we are very excited!

We went home this weekend for my nephews 1st birthday party. Here are a few pics - my nephew's name is Mason and his sister is Makayla. These are the only cousins so far on my side of the family and my kids love seeing them! I love the construction idea. My sister (annie) had "sack lunches" for us and the coolest cake. Makayla is a celiac so she couldn't have any cake - but she really enjoyed the chocolate off the Haagen Daz Bar! Mom found the cool construction cone drink containers and my kids thought they were awesome. There are other pics, but they are on Annie's Camera!

And last but not least.... she's on the way! Now I just need some input on lenses that you guys like and use - eventually I'll be able to invest in some different lenses as well. I think it will be here Wednesday so I'll be able to test it out at my nieces wedding this weekend (yes, another trip to La Grande this weekend!)

Digital SLR's

So.. I need some opinions out there. Which is better -Canon or Nikon as far as Digital SLR's? There is a new rebel in town.. but I don't know too much about Nikon so I need some input!

Temple Photos & Roly-Poly's!!!

For some reason the last couple of times I've tried to upload photos blogger has had issues! ARGH! Anyway - here they are. It was cool to be able to take the kids and talk about the temple with them. It was so neat to be in the temple all together with my little family (even if Brynley wanted to run around and play!) It was so neat to be able to talk a little bit more about the importance of temples and when they would be able to attend.

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The other day I'd washed out back patio off and i started to notice little roly poly bugs crawling up out of the grass onto the patio. The kids thought these little bugs were the best thing ever and decided to start collecting them in a little pail. Here is their winnings for the day - and this was only because they were tired of picking them up! There were SO many! Who knew these would provide entertainment for such a long time! I'm ready for them to come out and play again!

Soon to come....

We just arrived in Twin Falls a couple of hours ago with plans to attend the Twin Falls Idaho Temple open house! Photos to come tomorrow......


PS.. I've been totally swamped with school this week - but today I finally finished up my last class (well, for summer anyway!) Now I've got just a week and a half before the boys and I start back in the fall... I'm excited for them, but not so much for me. I'll be taking it MUCH easier this term, so I should have plenty of time for play.

Sweet addiction

Need I say more? (I'm just glad we're not on the same side of town as this sinful shop!)

ShaZAM!

My mom came and picked the boys up yesterday to take them camping so we had brynley all to ourselves this weekend! She got this cute dress (from grandma) yesterday and we just couldn't resist taking her picture! Here is the original straight out of the camera...

Then I tried Jessica Sprague's ShaZAM technique on it and here's the result....

And then I thought I would see what happened when I turned it to black and white with the overlays- first one is without the "screen" overlay, and the second photo is with both overlays.

I LOVE photoshop! It's so much fun playing with pics! I can't wait to play some more! If you have some fun tricks that you do with your photos please share! I'm just getting started and I need all the tips I can get! Steven thinks I'm a computer addict because I spend so much time on here "playing!"

Girly Hair

Ok - so I just LOVE having a little girl. Last night I was checking a friends blog, which led to another friend from BYU that I haven't seen or heard from since 1999. Anyway, on her site she had some fun girly hair blogs and I tried this one on Brynley today. She thinks it's pretty cool! She kept asking me to do "one more" I can't wait to try some more fun stuff!!! I'll post the blogs I find on my sidebar a little later. If you have a girl - check these out! Tons of cute ideas!