Funnies

Addy is going to play soccer this spring. She is so excited to start playing that she talks about it all the time. She keeps saying she can't wait until her first game. I asked her if she knew what a soccer game was. She looked at me like I was dumb and said "that's when everyone comes to see how good I am." I sure hope she's not disappointed.

Last night I was up in my room while Ben and the girls were making dinner. Ben told Sydnee to give mommy the five minute warning. She said, "okay, where is it?"

Addy is always singing. She has been learning How firm a foundation in primary, except she sings it Confirm a foundation. She has also been singing Frosty the snowman. She sings about Frosty's corn pop pipe, maybe I'm wrong, but I always thought it was a corn cob pipe.

Happy Birthday To Ya Baby, Shebop Shebop

Happy Birthday Hon!

The Moose

Happy Birthday Ben! Yesterday was Ben's Birthday, we celebrated in style by digging out weeds and gravel on the side of the house for our garden. We stopped at Harts for slurpees and nachos for lunch, followed by a trip to Target to pick up Super Smash Brothers Brawl for the birthday boy. And of course no birthday is complete without a trip to Lowe's. Thanks Hon for all your hard work. We also had a party at Ben's parents. Dinner was yummy and Ben's mom made the traditional Yancey birthday 1-2-3-4 cake with fudge icing. I'm glad he got a real cake, because I was a slacker this year. The girls and I made him a dirt cake today, because he's older than dirt now! Ben's brother George is a unique individual, he has a reputation for giving strange gifts. This year George's gift was the strangest yet. He gave Ben a sculpture made out of a glass bottle, LED Christmas lights and wires and stuff. We call it the moose. It's pretty strange.
Just for the record, we actually celebrated on Friday by going to Tucanos. Mmmm meat! Now it's on to the Williams house for the March birthday feast. We have 3 birthdays in 3 days. Wow! Happy Birthday Parker, Ben and Dad! We love you all!

Baby News

Just FYI, my ultrasound is on March 27th at 3:00 pm. I'm sure it's a girl, Ben is sure it's a boy. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Meanwhile, take your guess on our poll.

Mr. Creative

I know my husband works hard and supports his family. I appreciate the fact that he gets up every morning and goes to work so that he can provide for us, but sometimes I wonder about what he's doing.
Ben came home from work all excited about a clock that he made out of a hard drive. He told me in detail all the things he did to make it work. This is why he makes the big bucks and I stay home.

A Hero's Farewell

Yesterday I had the privilege to attend Micheal Alleman's funeral. It was the most touching funeral I have been to. What an amazing man. Micheal's wife and mother both spoke as well as a family friend. The spirit was so strong. I cried a lot, but also felt the peace of the Holy Ghost. We went to the cemetery which was awesome to see the military rights performed. Along the road from the church to the cemetery they had flags along the street and also the children from the school where Micheal taught lined the streets waving flags. There were soldiers in uniform along the road saluting and two fire trucks with the ladders up and a flag hanging down formed an arch to drive under. It was amazing, to say the least. What a tribute to Amy and her boys and all of their family. We passed around the tissues in our car and at the graveside service. Once again, Thank you to Micheal and his family for such a hero and for allowing Micheal to serve our country and protect my freedom.
This link has pictures from the funeral that are just beautiful.
http://www.hjnews.com/photography/2009/03/04/allemanfuneral/

Naughty, Naughty...

It's official, Sydnee has hit the mischievous stage. When Sydnee was potty-training, we had a small Winnie the Pooh potty. I was grateful to put it away and just use the potty seats that fit on the toilet. I put the Pooh Bear potty in our shower downstairs to get it out of the way. I didn't like the look of the shower so I hung a curtain around it. The other day I noticed the curtain was a mess and that someone had been in the shower. The kids are generally the culprit when it comes to getting in the shower. I fixed the curtain and went on with the day. Later the curtain was a mess again. I looked in the shower and noticed that the potty that was being stored in there was full. Gross!!! I pulled it out and cleaned it. I questioned Sydnee and of course she blamed it on Addy. I know better. Sydnee got in trouble and sat in time out. The next day, the same thing. The potty was full again. Sydnee lied to me again and got into a lot of trouble. I got mad and threw the potty away. She also colored all over the vanity in the same bathroom. Sydnee has always been my angel, I guess she's hit the naughty stage. At least the potty is gone. The crayons might be the next to go.

The McDonald's Dress

Close up of the fabric
Isn't she cute?

Last fall my sister Camille and I went to the fabric store together. We looked at the clearance fabric and found some hideous fabric with the McDonald's characters on it. Addy fell in love with it and asked for a dress made out of it. Try as she might, Camille couldn't talk her out of it. Aunt Camille bought the fabric and took it home. Addy has an amazing memory and asked Camille if she had made her dress yet. Addy told her she wanted the dress for her birthday. Last Sunday was the family birthday dinner. Addy was pleasantly surprised with her lovely McDonald's dress. She tried it on and wore it home. The next day after school she put it on as soon as she got home. It's so ugly it's cute. At least she had enough sense not to wear it to school.

Happy Birthday Addy!!!

I can't believe it, Addy turned 6 yesterday. It is so hard to believe that she is already 6 and so grown up. I am so grateful to have her in our family. Addy came in to wake me up, she told me she felt a little different now that she was 6. We had a fun day full of celebration. Addy had fun going to school and being sung to by her friends. Addy begged to go to the Mayan for her special day. Ben came home early from work so that we could go on our adventure. We got to the restaurant and went to the doors only to find them locked, aarrgghh!! it was closed. Addy was very upset, she started to cry. We quickly formed plan B and headed to the mall to find some form of entertainment until The Mayan opened at 4 pm. We hit the food court and the kids had pretzels for lunch to hold them over. We let the girls ride on the carousel which they loved. We spent some time at the little dinosaur playland in the mall. The girls loved it and ran the whole time we were there. Finally, it was time to make our way back to the car. After one more ride on the carousel, we left the mall. We drove around for a while until it was close to opening time. We waited outside the restaurant letting the girls climb on the giant stone snakes. Finally, the doors opened. We were the second group in. Can you believe they wouldn't give us good seats, we complained and asked to be moved and were told we would have to go back to the lobby and talk to the manager. What a bunch of jerks! After a mediocre dinner and two diving shows, our Mayan adventure was complete. I am glad that Addy thoroughly enjoyed herself, because I have a few choice words for the people at the Mayan. Anyway, it was now home for presents and cake. Addy got a new scooter, she has been trying to ride my huge, ancient scooter and it's a little too big for her. She also got new clothes for her Fancy Nancy doll and some coloring supplies. She was thrilled with all of her presents. After some scooter time we had cupcakes. Addy made my life easier by requesting a flower cake which is just a bunch of cupcakes arranged in the shape of a flower with a fruit roll-up for a stem. This is one of the easiest birthday cakes to make. After a long day of fun, the kids had a bath and then to bed. What a fun day, I am glad that birthdays only come once a year though.

Sad News

I'm sure you have seen the news and heard that Micheal Alleman a soldier from American Fork was killed in Iraq Monday morning. If you watched KSL news last night you saw his awesome wife Amy tell of her brave husband. Micheal's parents live in my ward and I have known them for a long time. I never had the chance to meet Michael, but I am friends with his wife Amy. Amy is such a strong, wonderful woman. Knowing Amy, I know what kind of a person her husband was. He loved his family and his country very much. I cried when I heard about Micheal's death. Kai, Amy and Micheal's 6 year old is in Addy's kindergarten class. I told Addy that Kai's daddy had died, she teared up and said "Kai must be so sad." That night in our family prayer the first thing Addy said was please bless the Alleman family and Kai. More tears. I am so glad to have such a sweet caring child. Yesterday morning I met 2o+ youth and parents at 6:00 a.m to put flags around the ward and in front of the Alleman's home. Again, more tears. These youth and parents were so happy to spend a few minutes to try and honor such a great man. One of my young women told me that she had such a good feeling all day. Later in the day I went to visit Amy. She told me about Micheal's death and what a hero he is. She is also a hero for standing so brave and so accepting of her trials. We talked about the peace the gospel brings and the comfort she is receiving at this time. I don't think I will ever look at the American flag the same way. I am truly grateful for Micheal's sacrifice for his country. He died a true hero. Thank you Micheal. To all of the Alleman's Thank you for your sacrifice, we love you very much and will continue to keep you in our prayers.

My Kids Crack Me Up

Tuesday night's dinner conversations were quite amusing. They went something like this:
Ben:Eat your broccoli Sydnee.
Sydnee: I'm done.
Ben: They're like little trees, eat the trees.
Sydnee: I'm done.
Ben:Do you know who likes to eat trees?
Sydnee:blank stare...
Ben:Dinosaurs eat trees, so eat up like a dinosaur.
Sydnee: When daddy was little there were real dinosaurs.
I'm not sure, but I think she just called you old hon.

Sydnee never finished her broccoli, but she got us to laugh. She then asked for dessert.
Addy:For dessert we have nickel sandwiches with mustard between the nickels.
Mommy and daddy cracked up over this one. Mmmmm nickel sandwiches, I bet they're crunchy. I think she meant knuckle sandwiches, but either way, neither one sounds good for dessert.

Draper Temple Open House

Yesterday we had the chance to go to the new Draper temple for the open house. What a production. We had to park at a designated church, wander around in circles, move from one room to the next to wait and then, wait some more. I normally don't mind waiting, okay I do, but for this I was trying hard to be patient. Our assigned time was right around lunch time and me and the girls had not eaten since breakfast, not a good start. After much waiting and a bouncy bus ride we were able to weave our way through the tents that lead to the temple. It was very pretty inside. I loved the colors and all of the wood work. There were also some gorgeous paintings, many which I had never seen before. I was surprised at how small the temple was. The ordinance rooms were tiny. I guess with several other temples close by, it doesn't need to be huge. After 3 hours we finally made it back to our car. Now to find some lunch. We stopped at Thanksgiving Point for lunch, we have a gift card for the Harvest restaurant and figured that since we were all dressed up it would be fun to eat there. Of course, it was closed until 5pm and it was now about 3:30. Aargh! The girls were starved and so we got lunch at the deli instead. We were having fun until the girls would not eat and both started moping. This is actually quite common when we go out, but I wasn't in the mood for it. Then Addy complained about her tummy hurting. I rolled my eyes. Now here is another point for my mother of the year award. Addy's tummy wasn't over the flu yet. She had been fine since Sunday, but it came back with a vengeance. We drove home as fast as we could. Thank goodness for the trash bags I keep in the car. Addy had a rough ride home and a rough evening. She actually slept through the night and woke up hungry today. I kept her home from school today and she is vegging on my bed right now. Hopefully she will be back to normal soon, poor kid. Until then, our washer and dryer, and our bathroom will be very busy.

A better week, well to start with...

This last week Ben was out of town again, this time in St. Louis. Things went much better at home this time. Sydnee went back to the dermatologist and her molluscum is healing well, and the best part is she doesn't have any new spots, yea! Her arms look much better. Addy is still struggling with her eczema, but we are slowly getting it taken care of. Ben got home Wednesday and after I picked him up from the airport, he headed to work. Ben has a big project at work, so he worked late Wednesday and Thursday. Poor guy got very little sleep, but it's almost done. Wednesday after young women's, I came down with a cold, not fun. Thursday I got to have lunch with two good friends which was lots of fun. Happy Birthday Marie! Friday I was able to help my little hobo laurels with dinner for MORP. They told their dates that they forgot to secure their dinner plans, so they went door-to-door begging for food. I let them in and fed them appetizers under the guise that we were having a party and had some extra food. These kids are so cute and they were so appreciative. That night we had dinner out, which the kids loved. Friday night, Addy came down with stomach flu. I am so grateful for Ben and that he is good to help with the clean up process. After a miserable sleepless night for me and Addy, we made it to Saturday. Then Sydnee came down with the stomach flu too. Happy Valentines Day to us! We spent the day lounging around watching movies and sleeping. Today is Sunday, and the kids are on the mend. I wish that I was too, I am such a whimp when I have a cold. Ben went to sacrament meeting today to represent our family. Me and the kids are in our pajamas watching movies again. Hopefully tomorrow will bring us a better week.

Youth Conference 2009

This year our ward decided to try a winter youth conference since the summer is so busy. It was held at the Heber Valley Camp which is beautiful, in the daylight. I decided that since I'm still struggling with morning sickness that I would only go up for Saturday. There weren't enough rides to get all the kids up to Heber, so I ended up having to drive up on Friday night. It was snowing and when we got to the 7 mile squiggly road that leads up to the camp, my poor mini-van just couldn't make it, we slid and got stuck. I guess we should have prayed like the other cars that miraculously made it up. O ye of little faith. Sorry kids. We waited for an hour until one of the camp missionaries came and towed us up the mountain. Caleb (my brother) was up there for scouts and he actually came to rescue us, but we had already made it up the mountain. I dropped the kids off and headed back down. The road had been plowed, so it was much easier to get down. That was the easy part. After a pit stop in Heber, I started towards Provo canyon. I didn't get far before I was in a horrible snow storm, it was a white out. I'm not sure how I made it home, but I am so glad I did. It was a terrifying experience, I prayed all the way home. Saturday the weather was much better and I didn't have to drive, thank goodness. After making it to the camp and walking in, we met the kids and had fun hearing about their adventures. The kids spent Saturday snow-shoeing and doing many different service projects. After lunch the kids played games together that really made them work together. It was great to watch. Our youth are great, they really get along well and had lots of fun together. Thank you to all those who made this a great experience. The ride home was just as good, clear roads and singing along with the laurels and their theme songs.

Baby Update

I went to my first doctors appointment on the 4th of this month. My doctor is fabulous, he makes me feel at ease and jokes with me. The nurses are awesome too. Val, my favorite nurse had a hard time finding the baby's heartbeat, it couldn't be that I have too much padding on that part of my body. After a few minutes she gave up and said I needed an ultrasound. Darn! The ultrasound tech was great, she remembered me from back in August when I was having some problems. She took extra time with me and checked everything out. Our baby is about 6 centimeters long and growing just fine. I always like to be reassured that I'm not a nut and that there really is something growing in me. I'm glad to know that our baby is doing well. It looks like an alien with a huge head and it had its little arms up by its head. If I ever get our scanner up and going I will post pictures of the ultrasound, it won't be too long and we'll get to find out whether it's a boy or girl. I'm sure it's a girl, but Ben thinks it's a boy.

One Heck of a Week

Our little leper with her bandages
The day after treatment
internet photo of what the spots look like before treatment

Why is it when husbands go out of town that everything goes wrong? Ben spent the week in Huntsville, Alabama for his job. Ben left Monday. Monday morning while trying to get Addy to school, I got stuck in the snow at the bottom of our driveway. This wasn't a good start to the week. I was finally able to get out and even managed to get Addy to school on time. The week went downhill from there. My eyes are still a little puffy from all the crying I did. So here comes one of the worse things that happened. Wednesday I took both girls to the dermatologist. Addy has severe eczema that we can't get under control. I had Sydnee checked too because for several months Sydnee has had these little blister looking things on her arms. We thought it was just eczema. When the doctor looked at her he told Addy to go sit down across the room and immediately put gloves on. He then said she has molluscum contagiosum. I got the contagious part of the name but that was about it. It turns out the blisters on Sydnees arms are a very contagious skin virus. The doctor was shocked that Addy didn't have it too, because these girls play together, bathe together and share everything. Sydnee was such a good patient, she didn't flinch or complain. The doctor put a drop of medicine on each bump and then a bandaid. She had at least 3o+ bandaids under her arms. The worst part was when we got home we had to take each bandaid off which was traumatizing, but then I had to wash the medicine off. I wish the doctor would have warned us about this. The medicine made the spots raw. We had many tears, I cried right along with Sydnee. The next day the bumps had turned into huge blisters which I had to drain with a needle. Thank goodness for Sesame Street, it kept Sydnee distracted so she didn't notice the needle. Sydnee looks like a burn victim. Her arms look like raw hamburger, so we keep them bandaged up real good. She won't put her arms down because she is still quite tender. Poor kid!

I had no idea what Sydnee had and since she has had it for a few months and it's contagious, I apologize profusely to anyone that has been around Sydnee in the past few months. I really had no idea. Molluscum is spread by touching the blisters and then touching your own skin. Sydnee still plays side by side with kids and really only gets close to Addy who luckily hasn't caught it. If you think your child has molluscum have your doctor check it out. Once again, I am so sorry I didn't know what this was and I apologize to those we may have exposed.
On a better note, after our crappy week, Ben finally made it home. He missed his first flight and spent most of his day hanging out at airports, but he finally made it home last night. Yeah! Only 2 more business trips in the next few weeks, hopefully we'll survive.

Fancy Girls

My girls absolutely love the Fancy Nancy books by Jane O'connor. For the longest time, Addy called them the Fancy Yancey books. If you have ever been around my girls you will totally understand why these books are their favorites. Fancy Nancy is a girl with very fancy tastes. She likes everything to be fancy and not plain. She adds her own special touch to everything. Last weekend my mom threw a Fancy Nancy party for my girls, it was lots of fun. We dressed up fancy and were greeted at the door by the butler (my dad.) The girls were treated to a pedicure by mommy and aunt Camille, then they decorated cute little felt purses that my mom made. We were then served fancy finger foods by the butler. We even ate with our pinkies up. Addy and Sydnee were in heaven. They had a wonderful time and still talk about it. Thank you Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Camille for a Superb time, that's fancy for great!

Top 12 for the end of 2008

• Making Grandma Carter's fudge with Camille

• Falling down the stairs= swollen ankle and sore tail bone. I hate being a klutz!

• Destruction-tearing out tile flooring at Yancey's and replacing it with laminate.

• New year's came while I was asleep!

• First lesson taught in young women's goes quite well, I think.
  

• No neighbor gifts or Christmas cards delivered this year, oops! We really do love all of you, but I have been a major slacker this year.
  

• Christmas Day spent with family, lots of fun!

• Christmas Eve family home evening with Williams family, love the nativity play.

• Let it snow! Playing in the snow and our first real snowman.

• Crazy Carter Christmas party brought to you by the second generation. Breakfast goes over well and the games were great!

• School Christmas sing, poor Addy was so sick she couldn't even enjoy herself, but she sure looked cute!

• And just in case you didn't hear we are going to add a new baby to our family in August!!!

Year End 2008

Christmas 2008

Wow, am I behind? I choose to blame my being behind on the fact that I left my camera at my parents on Christmas day and just got it back yesterday. I know, not a good excuse. We had a great Christmas! Santa was good to our girls, he brought them legos, tinker toys and lots of other cool stuff. Sydnee got a teddy bear and Addy asked for a baby doll, but instead got new clothes for the baby doll she has, but doesn't play with. We spent lots of time with both families and despite the stress of running around on Christmas day from house to house, it was a great day. The girls also got a surprise present from Ben and I. We gave them a bag full of baby bottles, binkies, and clothes and asked them who these things were for. They finally decided they were for their baby dolls. We announced to them that mommy will be having a new baby this summer and that they will have a new brother or sister. It took several days for this announcement to compute, but now they are very excited.
Ben has been on vacation for two weeks now, so we have had a long restful vacation at home. Which is good since I have had a lot of "morning" sickness. I don't know why they call it morning sickness, because it hits me any time of day and sometimes all day. I am just really grateful for the good days I have, and I am also grateful for Phenergan on the days that are really bad.