The Mystery of the Mosquito Bite

The huge splinter

The Wound

Warning: Kind of gross story ahead

Several weeks ago Addy got a mosquito bite on her leg. It was red and swollen and hot. It reminded me of the reaction that I had to mosquito bites when I was a kid, so I thought nothing of it. 2 weeks ago we were at my parents and she complained that it itched, I thought that was kind of odd because it was a pretty old bite at that point. The next day I noticed the bite and it still looked pretty bad. Addy picked at it and goo came out. Gross!!! We put a bandaid on it and went on with the day. Before bed I looked at it again and checked to see if any more goo would come out. I touched it and something came out...it was long and black. At first I thought it was a stinger from a bee or something, but it was a huge splinter. OUCH! No wonder it looked bad and hurt. It felt better almost immediately. I guess I should check closer next time she has a nasty "mosquito" bite.

A letter from Addy

I forgot to put this with the post about Addy's teeth. She wrote a letter to the tooth fairy. The tooth fairy used her best handwriting and wrote back ;) I just hope this doesn't become a habit.

Banana Bread and Life Lessons

Last night for family home evening I had a great idea, at least I thought so. We had bananas that needed to be used up, so we made banana bread. While the girls helped read the recipe, measure and mix, we related it all to life. We talked about how you have to use the "instructions" to get things to turn out right. We even made a little mistake. We fixed it to show that when we make mistakes in our life, there is always a way to fix it. Both girls caught on pretty quick and were able to understand that when we obey and follow the rules in our life, we can have something great now and forever.

Decorating for Fall

Finally, new pictures!

I love fall, especially decorating for fall

It's a good day when...

All three laundry bags are empty!

Sisterly Love

Addy and Sydnee loved to push each others buttons lately. This leads to many fights and crying and whining. The other day the two were playing downstairs when we heard Sydnee crying. This is nothing unusual, Sydnee cries a lot. Sydnee came upstairs to cry and whine about the injustice. Addy wouldn't do a puzzle with her. Addy showed up to tell her side of the story. I asked her what she said to Sydnee when she told her no. Addy said, "Life is full of disappointments, get used to it." Ben and I had to work really hard not to laugh out loud. Where do they come up with this stuff?

Apple Picking

Last Saturday we went apple picking with aunt Hope. We went to Farnsworth farms in Sandy. It was a little tiny orchard, but it was the perfect place for the kids. We made applesauce that night and made cobbler on Sunday, it was yummy!

Bloody Baby

I took Maren in to have some lab work last week. I was feeling guilty because I had had the orders for over a month. I finally decided we would go right after I got the big kids to school. I first went to the hospital, but the lines were huge, so I thought I would go over to the lab at the doctors plaza. Bad idea. I should have waited in line at the hospital. We waited for about 45 minutes in a teeny tiny waiting room. There was one lady that gave us dirty looks the whole time. Thank goodness for the nice little old lady sitting next to us. She let Maren go through her purse and play with all of her things. Finally when it was our turn, the nice lab ladies couldn't hit her veins. They tried twice and got enough for some of the tests and then poked her finger to get the rest. Next time, I will wait at the hospital. Maren wouldn't keep the bandaids on and so as I walking to the car I got some strange looks. Then I realized that Maren was bleeding and smearing blood everywhere. We were both covered. I tried to clean her up, but when we got home, she was totally covered. Because I am such a good mom, I took pictures before I cleaned her up. Thank goodness her iron levels are up, hopefully there will be no more trips to the lab.

Beautiful Butterfly Bush

A few years ago my brother and sis-in-law gave me a butterfly bush for my birthday. This year it has been so pretty. The butterflies, humming birds and bees love it. These are some of the visitors to my bush.

And another ones gone, and another ones gone...

Addy lost two teeth last week. One came out on Tuesday, the other on Thursday. She is now two dollars richer. The one picture is kind of scary and I'm sure that someday she'll hate me for it. Oh well. She looks so much different now. 3 front teeth missing has given her a little bit of a lisp too. Just after the second tooth came out, she came downstairs giggling because she can't make the "s" sound very well, it was great. I'm just not sure what she wants for Christmas now that her two front teeth are out. Hahahaha, okay that was lame.

Baby Shower

Cute Lindsay and some of her loot

Marie and Bryce, my great shower helpers

I burnt a dish towel while baking

I made 8 dozen cream puffs over 2 days

My friend Lindsay is expecting her first baby around Halloween. She's waited a long time to be a mom, so we had to throw a party for her. The shower went well, we invited over 80 people and had at least 40 show up and another 5 drop off gifts. It was fun visiting with friends and neighbors and seeing all the cute pink things.

Super Busy

I can't believe how busy I have been in the last few weeks. I feel like today is the first day that I have actually been able to slow down and breathe. I have spent the last few weeks planning and carrying out a baby shower, which was very successful. I baked 8 dozen cream puffs and 6 dozen chocolate chip cookies for the shower. I don't mean to brag, but I had many people tell me they were the best cream puffs they had ever tasted. I took Maren in for more lab work. Her iron is finally up, yeah! We've been doing homework, picking apples and cooking with them, pulling more teeth out, going to young women activities, working on girls camp, slide-shows and lots of other things. Oh, and helping lots of friends with their children. I also have been doing some things to help at the school. I think I need a short break, I'm grateful to be busy, but I'm a little tired of my life being planned for me. I'm a control freak, I need some control. Sigh. I'm done now. So, I guess I will post some pictures from the last few weeks. Breathe...

Kindergarten at last

Today was Sydnee's first day of kindergarten. She has been so excited for months now. This morning she was up and dressed by 7 and ready to go. She was a little nervous, she wouldn't eat her breakfast. Ben went to work late so that he could walk with us to school. She led the way to the school. She was all smiles as she stood in line waiting for her teacher to come. She didn't look back at all. She was so happy when I picked her up. She had a great day and has been talking (in a big girl voice) non-stop. Hurray for kindergarten!

Hey Maren, Where's your nose?

That's right, good job!

Goofballs

Trying on Maren's clothes

Baby clothes and memories

I pulled out a box of baby clothes today so that I could take inventory of what Maren will need for winter. I pulled out this purple outfit that is totally hideous and started to laugh. When Addy was little, terrible two's to be exact, she wore the purple outfit. She always seemed to be wearing it when she got into trouble. Take the picture for instance, she would use her laundry bag or diaper pail to climb up on top of her dresser. As you can see in the picture, she had emptied all of her clothes out of the dresser and made a huge mess. I couldn't find a picture of one other incident, but I remember it well. I went in to check on Addy during nap time. We had just transitioned her from the crib to a twin bed. When I walked in she was a greasy mess. She had used her diaper pail to climb up on the dresser. She reached way up to get her diaper rash ointment which was up on top of a shelf. She had smeared the ointment all over herself, the quilt on her bed, the wall and the carpet. Her clothes were covered and her face and hair were just nasty. She had also eaten some, gross! I got her into the bathtub and called poison control. They told me she would be fine. I had to wash her several times with lots of soap to try and get all the grease out. It took a lot of work to clean everything up, there was still a stain on the carpet in her room when we moved. The worst part is that she did it more than once. Crazy kid. This outfit will not be making its way into Maren's drawer this fall. I don't think she needs to wear the naughty toddler outfit.

The Last Hurrah

My friend Jamie and I took the kids, well most of them to the zoo yesterday. Jamie and I have been friends since we were born, okay, as long as I can remember. Sydnee loves Garrett and says she is going to marry him, so cute. It was the perfect day to go to the zoo. It was sunny and breezy, but not hot. Perfect. We had a great time checking out the animals, watching the animals we call our children and just catching up. What a great way to spend our last day before kindergarten starts. Thank you Jamie for a super day!

Smart"ies" Girl

Maren's new favorite thing is smarties. She loves them, she screams for them when she sees them. She's a super smart girl liking the sweet stuff.

End of Summer Splash

Last night we had a neighborhood end of summer party. They had the big water slides up on the hill at the park. We couldn't keep Addy and Sydnee away from them. Maren was content to just wander around and steal potato chips. I am so grateful that we live where we do and have great neighbors. What a great way to end the summer. Addy is the blue speck just starting down the slide. I never made it close enough to get good pictures. Oh well!
P.S. Addy loved the first 3 days of school, yeah!

A Super Saturday

Yesterday, Ben and I had the privilege to go to a sealing at the Mt. Timpanogos temple. A family in our ward whom we love had their youngest son sealed to them. This family is amazing. They have 2 biological daughters and have adopted 7 children who were in the foster care system. Kim and Matt are two people who I look up to, the story of how they came to have all of their children just amazes me. Yesterday morning was just perfect. The sealer gave a little talk before the kids came in and it really touched me. He talked about the covenants that are made in the temple and their significance. It was a good reminder that was very helpful to me. When the children came in the room, I was just overpowered with the sense of love in the room. Even now I'm a little teary eyed thinking about it. I am so grateful for the gospel and the knowledge that I can be together with my family for eternity. I am grateful that Ben and I could be married in the temple and keep our children sealed to us forever.