Ice cream fun

This afternoon I was upstairs ironing some laundry and I heard the happy little song of the ice cream man driving by. The kids heard it at the same time because instantly I heard the stomping of the little feet down the hall and up the stairs with cries of "the ice cream man is here, the ice cream man is here!!!!!!!!!!!" Of course I knew that their statement really meant "Can we PLEASE go outside and buy some ridiculously high priced ice cream from the strange man driving by in the van with loud and happy music????!!!!" I was up for some fun, so we grabbed our piggy banks filled with change that we were saving for some unknown important thing, such as ice cream, and we ran out the door. We had run all of across the culdisac when I heard this crash... I turned to see Sophie, with no piggy bank in her hand. It had crashed to the ground, and broke into a million pieces. I was afraid there would be a waterfall of tears to follow. But there was only the fear that we would miss the ice cream man. She apparently didn't care about her piggy bank that she has so lovingly protected for over a year now. It's funny how unimportant material things can become in times of crisis. So we picked up every single quarter, dime, nickel and penny. They were all safely inside my bigger change jar and we were off again. We stopped at the corner to try and figure out where the ice cream man had gone to and we found him 2 blocks away!!! The kids were in heaven. So, we looked at all the delicious pictures on the side of the ice cream truck and we made our selection. Peter picked a Road Runner ice cream Popsicle. Sophie chose a very cherry screwball, and I picked Double Lemon Ice. The kids were not impressed with my selection, but that was fine with me. I like lemon ice. The total came to $6.00. We poured our change out onto the sidewalk and counted away. We made sure to pick up the broken piggy bank on the way home, because we had left it on the sidewalk while we ran to find the ice cream man. After that we ran home, opened our frozen treasure and talked about going to the dollar store to buy another piggy bank for Sophie. This was a great mommy time. Too bad Max slept through the whole thing. He really likes ice cream! (PS- You may be thinking that I left him home alone, but Matt was home from school, and he stayed with our sleeping babe while I ran with Sophie and Peter on our ice cream adventure!)

I always thought ice cream was one word, but thanks to spell check I have learned that it is actually 2 words. I had to change it 12 times in this blog!!

Standing Max

Sophie has just discovered that she can make Max stand! She props him up to the couch and holds him till he gets his balance and then lets go!!! She is so proud of herself when she does this! The only problem is that she makes him stand and then she comes to find me to show me, and in the mean time he looses his balance and falls to the ground! Sorry Max...

He actually can stand, in the middle of the room, or about 4 seconds and then looses his balance. I don't think it counts till he can stand alone for 10 full seconds, and I'm sure that's around the corner. He is growing up so fast!!

The Primary Program!

This year the Primary theme is "I'll Follow Him in Faith" And my calling at church is Primary 1st counselor. The main focus of my calling is to write the primary program that the kids present in sacrament meeting. So I had to come up with a way to fill the 40 minutes and give all 103 kids in my primary a part to read and say, coming from the things that they have learned this year, along with incorporating all 8 songs that the kids have learned so far this year. This has been a huge focus for me and I am surprised at how well it all finally came together. We had our last practice on Friday, and I walked away from there a little more than worried for how it would all turn out! But my prayers were answered and the program was really nice. I am so glad to have this out of the way! Hip hip horray!! After was all said and done I had to go to primary and give a sharing time. I didn't realize it was my turn to do sharing time until we were driving up to the church because all my focus on the Primary Program, and having gone to Florida for 4 days. So, my amazing husband dropped me and the kids off at church and he ran home to prepare something for me for sharing time! THANK YOU RICH!! Some how it all turned out ok, and I got to take a nap after church!!

Sophie got to be involved in the primary program for her first time this year. Her part to say was "I can be obedient." I took some parental liberty to assign this part to her! And she did such a good job! She also sat very revernt up there with her class, and she knew all the songs, of course! She has a primary CD that has all 8 songs they have learned on it and she has listend to it before bed all year. I think she sings the songs in her sleep!!!

Halloween is coming...

We had so much fun this weekend! On Friday we went down to visit our friends, Erik and Julia. They invited us down to go to Emma's school Halloween carnival. The kids had a blast as we tried to manuver our way through the over crowded hallways. Sophie's favorite part was the activity where you put your hand in the box to feel the eye balls, brains, and other gross things! Peter's favorite was playing eat the donut on the string game. But he did it without the string!! The boys were all dressed up too, but wanted to take their costumes off before I could snap the picture.

We tried to squeeze in a visit with Richard's sister Kim the same night because they live 10 minutes from each other, but this was not a good idea. I feel like we didn't get a long enough visit with either of them. Sorry guys!

Peter loved visiting at Sam's house. Sam and Peter played dress up together. Peter was lucky enough to wear Sam's old Buzz costume from last Halloween. At one point they were walking up from the basement and Sam was ahead of Peter and he was saying "come on Peter!" and Peter replied "call me Buzz!"

SO cute!!!

101 Fun and Interesting things about us.

1. I don't like indoor plants, they are too much work for me.
2. Richard's chiropractic office will be open for 2 years next month! Yeah!
3. Sophie is a sore loser, where did that come from...
4. Peter used to be obsessed with his cousin Sam, he would pretend that he was Sam. And that everyone in our family was actually the people in Sam's family. He's past that now, but he still loves Sam.
5. Peter is a grazer when it comes to eating.
6. Sophie hates getting her hair done. I think it is the worst thing in the world to her.
7. Rich is a sore loser when we play games, so we don't play a lot of games. When we were first married we played a card game and the winner got to pick what we ate for dinner. He lost and went to our room pouting while I made dinner.
8. I don't think I have a competitive bone in my body.
9. I love to bake and cook.
10. I have a hard time stopping a project until I am completely finished.
11. I have not bought a new pair of shoes in almost 3 years.
12. I can never eat just one bowl of cereal, I need at least 2 or more.
13. Richard can speak Portugese. He went to Brazil on his mission.
14. Rich takes every excuse to speak Portugese. Even talking to complete strangers.
15. I hate calling people on the phone. I like talking on the phone, but I don't like initiating the call.
16. Being a stay at home mom is a lot harder than I ever thought. You never get a break!
17. I don't ever want to fly standby again!
18. I love birthdays and birthday cake!
19. I don't like chocolate, but I love brownies, go figure.
20. I hate my hair.
21. I love having everything organized and in order.
22. Sophie also loves things in order and gets mad (at Peter) when they get messed up.
23. I bought my first car, a 1990 Honda Accord, when I was 21yrs old for $4000.
24. My favorite place I have lived since I have been married was Pittsburgh, PA.
25. I don't want to live in Utah for the rest of my life.
26. I love blogging.
27. Rich falls asleep the minute his head hits the pillow, every night.
28. Sophie loves to ride her bike.
29. Sophie doesn't like picking out her own clothes because she doesn't know what matches.
30. I had never written a check, or used a credit card until I got married.
31. Rich proposed to me in an elaborate easter egg hunt.
32. I had never participated in an easter egg hunt until I was propsed to.
33. Rich took me ring shopping after he had already designed and bought my engagement ring.
34. Peter thinks he's a pirate!
35. Sophie wants to go to Disneyland for her birthday.
36. Peter is terified of amuzement park rides of all kinds.
37. We love Disney!
38. I'm not a big fan of owning video games, but the Wii is really fun and I am thinking about buying one one day!
39. I make a homemade present for each of the kids each Christmas.
40. I love color on my walls.
41. I love gardening.
42. Rich and I decorate together for our hobby.
43. I do not believe in coincidences. I believe everything happens for a reason.
44. My favorite place to serve in a church calling is in Young Womens.
45. I love pictures, and taking pictures.
46. I used to want 8 kids, now I think I want 4.
47. I am glad that babies (usually) come one at a time.
48. I am afraid of the ocean.
49. Sophie loves to be the boss.
50. Peter never stops talking!!!
51. I have always wanted to sing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
52. I love the beach.
53. I hate convertibles, and driving with the window open.
54. I love sun roofs in cars.
55. I really want a GPS Navigation System for the car.
56. I like doing housework, but I hate dusting.
57. I could organize things all day long. It is my passion.
58. We love to dance as a family to loud and crazy music.
59. We love to go out to ice cream as a family.
60. I love going on walks, but Rich doesn't.
61. I am addicted to the TV show Lost.
62. I have always wanted to be on The Price is Right.
63. Sophie can tie her shoes.
64. Peter is all about having a good time.
65. Max is predictable, and I love it.
66. I don't think I ever want a pet.
67. I get cold really easily. Rich gets hot really easily.
68. I fully believe that the human body was designed to heal itself.
69. I like to be spontaneous, but hate it when we have to change our plans.
70. I always wanted to be a ballerina, but never had the chance.
71. Sophie loves to play with older girls the best.
72. Rich and I were married 3 1/2 months after our first date.
73. We never had the chance to go on a honeymoon. I'll always regret that.
74. Richard is an amazing father.
75. I never dreamed I'd belong to such a large family. I always wanted a sister, and now I have 8 of them!
76. I love getting cards and letters in the mail.
77. I would rather go to the store to pay a bill than do it online, or by mail.
78. I love to sew, even though I am not very good at it.
79. My favorite color has always been pink. My friends growing up used to make fun of me for it.
80. I love taking long naps.
81. I have a serious phobia about losing parts or things, right now I am missing th 1/2 cup measuring cup in one of my 3 sets, and I can't get it off my mind. Where is it? I have this deep need to find it, and have the whole set back together again...
82. I am very scared of bees.
83. I have never been to a tanning salon.
84. I love collections, I have a problem collecting my collections over time. I want it all right now.
85. I have collections of pez dispensers, Disney snow globes, cookbooks, purses, movies, toys (the collections here don't end), kids books, fun socks, Willow Statues, picnic baskets, cloth napkins and napkin rings, board games, umbrellas, and some new collection is always catching my fancy.
86. Rich likes to collect ties, and I find his collection spread out all over the house as he takes his tie off after work and leaves them hanging around.
87. I love to scrapbook.
88. I love to make cards.
89. I don't love sports, and have never followed any of them.
90. Sophie is a beast to wake up in the morning.
91. Peter always pops right out of bed in the morning, wanting candy...
92. Rich and I sleep with eye masks on. It's the best thing we ever bought.
93. Rich and I don't exchange anniversary presents. We use the money we would have spent on a special date or activity.
94. Rich and I don't exchange Christmas presents anymore either.
95. We teach our kids that anyone can be Santa Clause.
96. I can eat a whole pumpkin pie in one sitting.
97. Christmas is the best time of the year.
98. I will never buy cloth couches again. They are too hard to clean with the messes kids make. The next couches we will buy will be leather.
99. Max already weighs 21 pounds at 8 1/2 months old. Sophie didn't weigh that until she was 1 1/2 years old.
100. Sophie is obsessed with weddings.
101. We all love watching movies, and always have to eat popcorn when watching!!!

Uh-oh...

PETER MICHAEL LEDOSQUET FORD!!!!!

Since the weather has changed to the cooler side I needed to buy the kids some warmer winter clothes. Pants, socks, long sleeve shirts and stuff. Well, today Peter was wearing a pair of his new pants, I think this is the second or third time he's worn them. I'm not exactly sure what he was trying to do, but as I was sitting at the computer I heard him say "Uh-oh..." I looked over to see him with sad guilty eyes and scissors in his hand.

I came over to the scene of the crime, and sure enough, he had cut a hole in his pants, right at the knee. Of course it is in a place that is not the easiest for me to fix and hide. I am so mad!!!! So he is sitting in time out, while I try to figure out what to do with him!! You may say, 'why do you let him have scissors in the first place?' Well, he uses them sometimes to open fruit snacks or something, and is usually responsible with them. This is a rare incident, that I know was a complete accident, but what do I do?? Ahhhh.....

Fly Lady Me

http://flylady.net/

"Make your mind up to be happy and you will be." ~ Flylady

For a few months now I have been with Fly Lady. It is a great group to be with, to help make new and good habits for taking care of yourself, your family and your home.

Here are the habits we have covered in 2007.

Remember to reinforce these habits along with completing your new one.
January - Shining your Sink
February - Decluttering for 15 minutes a day
March - Getting Dressed to the Shoes
April - Making your Bed
May - Moving
June - Drinking Water
July - Swish and Swipe
August - Laundry
September - Before Bed Routine October - Paper Clutter

I am not perfect at it yet. But I have noticed a big difference in my home and routine. Some of the things sound silly. But it works. I love recieving all of the free motivational emails, and the daily challenges to work on my home. I love having a clean and orderly home. Check it out, if you haven't already!

In Sophie's Words

Sophie wanted to add this:

Caterpillars turn into butterflies.

Butterflies can fly all around.

Caterpillars crawl.

All the butterflies in the air used to be caterpillars.

Caterpillars turn into butterflies inside of a chrysalis

The Getaway

This was the first time that we have ever done anything as sponateous and crazy as this. It was so needed too! Going with Rich to Orlando, FL on his business trip was so wonderful. And Max was the best travel companion. It was almost like he wasn't there. I came back feeling renewed, but not refreshed. I am so sleep deprived....... And even after all the problems with getting home, I am still so thankful we were able to make this trip.

(We made to to JFK airport yesterday missing 4 different flights and then stayed there for 7 hours until we made a flight to Las Vegas flight and then had to rent a car to drive the rest of the way. Rich HAD to be to work today. Luckily we met a girl and her dad doing the same thing as us, so we could split the cost of the rental and split up the driving.)

I love being a mother and staying home with my kids, but this break from reality was so nice. I feel so much more able to do what I love now. That is, after I take a couple naps!!!

PS- I want to do this again, soon!

Misc. things in Florida

Besides eating at Wolfgang Puck's, we also ate dinner at Bubba Gump's on Universal's City Walk. The food was so good. Rich ordered a shrimp sample plate after we had a stack of onion rings. And I wanted to wash them down with this yummy Pina Colada Strawberry Swirl drink. It was all heaven. I would love to eat here again. And at the table they have a sign you flip over when you want help - or your waitress for something. This is an ingenious idea. No more trying to flag down the waitress as she zooms by. Everyone knows. Why don't all restaurants have this feature??

We also ate some more italian, this time we went to the Macaroni Grill, and this was exactly what we wanted when we wanted italian the other day. Max, at the bottom was spent after trying his first calamari! He loved crunching down on those tiny curly little legs. Rich made me eat one too, just to say that I had. I have no comment about that.

Our hotel room was actually a mini condo - time share. It had a kitchenette. So we found a grocery store and bought breakfast things. I don't love eating out for breakfast, so this was perfect, and it got our days started a little faster.

The cool thing about our time share was that we went to a 90 minute presentation and we got $100 cash! That helped out with some of our expenses.

We had a rental car in Florida, and since we were going so many places that we didn't know how to get to, we rented a GPS Navigation system. We lovingly called her 'Jackie'. Jackie was spot on with guiding us to our destinations. It was so worry free. I definitely want to own one of these.

The weather in Orlando, FL was so perfect while we were there. It was sunny and warm. Not humid at all. And it couldn't have been better.

I think Max really enjoyed all the quiet time alone without the poking and prodding from his loving brother and sister.

Our Beach Bum!

It was awesome to go to the ocean. On Saturday when we went we went to the New Smyrna Beach. It was so cool. The main street leading to the ocean was lined with little shops and restaurants. We ate at one of them, an italian one that looked so quaint and cute. It left much to be desired... That is putting it nicely. But, Max liked it. He still likes everything. But the beach was great. We didn't bring swimsuits today, but we could sit and watch the waves. We stripped Max and let him stand in the water and crawl in the sand. HE LOVED THE OCEAN. He was fasinated with the sand too! We couldn't stay away, and ended up coming back on Sunday afternoon, this time to Cocoa Beach. That time to swim. I loved running in against the waves and getting splashed with salt water in the face. And when we were done I had sand everywhere!!!! It was so gross! This was a good experience for me since I am a little scared of the ocean. I was ok as long as I didn't think about the fact that the water is thousands of feet deep out there infront of me! This was one of my favorite parts of our trip.

Our Disney Experience

We really wanted to go to Disney World, but there really wasn't enough time to go, and we had Max with us, so we really couldn't do anything in the parks anyway. So we spent some time at Downtown Disney. We browsed through all the fun shops and ate dinner at Wolfgang Puck's. That food was SO good. I even ate, and enjoyed sushi there! Rich was really excited that I liked it, because he is already a huge sushi fan. It was fun, and hard trying to pick out presents for the kids. There was just SO MUCH stuff! It was awesome!

Max and the puppy

The main reason we were in Florida was to have Rich train this other Doctor how to use the Pro-Adjuster. So we went with him. I was the 'dummy' to help with the training. His wife was in and out all morning, and she brought their dog, Tada. This was the first time that Max had ever seen a big dog so close. I wasn't sure if I should worry about Max or the dog. He loved her and was crawling around wanting to pet (or hit!) the dog. He was so smiley and happy with the dog!! And Tada was so great around Max, very calm.

First Flight

Rich had to go to Florida for a training this weekend. Out of the 20 or so times he has been gone over the past two years on business trips I have never gone, but this time I went!! A friend of ours that works for Jet Blue (Which is amazing! I would definantly choose to fly Jet Blue againnext time I fly. I love the extra leg room, and TV for each person, and unlimited amounts of snacks and beverages which are in a great variety) and they gave us some buddy passes and we went to Florida (with Max too). We left Sophie and Peter home with Aaron and Matt. (We love you and know you will do a great job!) This whole thing felt like a whirl wind. He got the call to leave late Monday, and decided I would go late Tuesday, and it wasn't until Thursday morning that it was finalized, and we left early evening on Thursday. We had a red eye to Orlando, FL. We were routed from Salt Lake City to San Fransisco to Boston to Orlando early afternoon on Friday. We barely made all of our flights, thank goodness! Max was amazing!! He loved flying and was so well behaved! We would definitely take him on a plane again!

PS- We visited 6 different airports during our travels to and from Orlando. Salt Lake City, SanFransico, Boston, Orlando, JFK New York, and Las Vegas. I am airplaned out!!

Painting Pumpkins at Preschool

It was our turn to host preschool this week and we had the letter P. With it being fall, we decided we wanted to Paint Pumpkins. Sophie and I went to the store last night and hand selected each pumkin and all the colors of paint. So when the kids started coming this morning Sophie was telling them all about what we were going to do. So, after play time, and singing time, and work book time, and snack time, we finally got to put our aprons on and start painting!! All of the kids loved it- of course.

(Sophie's pumkin is front and center. Peter participated with our preschool too, and his pumkin is the middle row, next to the railing. He says it is the one with all the rainbow colors on it.) The kids are (starting from the top, left to right.) Cameron, Brooke, Madison, Holly, Sophie, Cade, Peter, and Kaimen.

Grandma and Grandpa

This last weekend Grandma and Grandpa were here and the kids couldn't have been happier! Sophie and Peter wanted to wait up till they came the first night, but they didn't get in until way late because of their flight, but the kids were up bright and early the next morning ready to play. Grandpa came with his 'itchy' finger and the kids were tickled to death!! Sophie was excited to show off her new skill of tying her shoes, and Peter was just excited to show off! Max got to display his crawling skills, which have greatly improved from his caterpillar crawl to a real, up on all fours crawl. The kids were very sad when Monday morning came and they had to say goodbye. It was a short, but sweet visit. But I reminded them that it's not for long, they'll be back the end of the month for another baby blessing, baby Shelby. I am so glad that my kids know and love all of their grandparents so much!

Macie's Blessing

Yesterday Baby Macie had her baby blessing. She wore this gorgeous dress that was so long and elegant. Grandma Ford made it for her. We all went down to Ogden for it. The blessing was at 5pm and when we got there at 5pm the church was locked and everyone was standing outside huddled together to try and keep warm from the brisk fall wind. Karolee finally tracked the bishop down (he was sick and had forgotten) and we got inside. It was a really nice occasion and Nate was able to give her a beautiful blessing with most of our family there, and his too. Peter was loving having all the boys to play with. In fact, after the blessing was over and the (yummy!) cake that we had for a refreshment was being cleaned up the kids were all having fun together. Too much fun!
And before we knew it 'someone' had pulled the fire alarm!!! They said Derek did it, and he admitted to it , but I still wouldn't put it past any of them. Peter loved it when the fire truck came. Nate tried to call the fire department to tell them it wasn't as emergency, just an accident - but they came anyway. I think it was the first time he and Sophie have seen a fire truck in person, and they loved how huge it was!! It was a great way to end the day!! We will never forget Baby Macie's blessing day!

General Conference News

Twice a year our church 'meets together' around the globe as we watch general conference. It is a time when we are blessed to hear wisdom and advice and counsel from the main leaders of the church. Since the last meeting in April, President James E. Faust, second counselor to President Gordon B. Hinckley passed away. So, today he named someone from the quorum of the 12 apostles to replace him. That man is President Henry B. Eyring, now second counselor to President Gordon B. Hinckley. I will miss hearing from President Faust with his gentle words. But I look forward to hearing from President Eyring, and see him change with his new calling in the church. After calling him, there was an empty place in the quorum of the twelve Apostles. So the new apostle Elder Quentin L. Cook was called. I do not know him, or cannot recall any of his past talks in general conference, so I really look forward to getting to know him and hearing his counsel to all of us members of the church. I love belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I love knowing that we are lead by a living prophet of God on the earth today. President Gordon B. Hinckley. And I love general conference. It is a chance to be spiritually uplifted and renewed. General Conference is different in Utah. We have the opportunity to watch it on TV. We don't need to travel to the church to watch it on satellite broadcast. It is a different experience that has its pros and cons. At home it is noisier, and more casual. There are more temptations to get up during conference to eat something or lay on the couch. When you have to leave your home to watch it you usually put on your Sunday best and pay more attention, and it is quieter and easier to feel the spirit. But then what do you do with your kids? I don't know which I prefer.

Grocery Savings

It's your store...

Today I had to go grocery shopping, by myself, with the 3 kids. I was worried going into it, but it actually turned out great. I had read in the paper about some awesome deals at Albertsons. Normally I do not shop the sales. It is too hard to do with kids. I buy everything I need at one store. But I couldn't pass this up! There were great 10 items for $10. And some were 10 items for $15. And this was great stuff that we use. Cereal like Trix, Cheerio's, Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Fruit Roll-Up's. Mini Yogurt packs. Frozen Pizza. Granola Bars. Muffin Mixes. Microwave Popcorn. (all the healthy stuff!!!) And the list goes on. But I won't, I'll stop there.

The total outcome for me, my 3 kids, and our

2 full baskets of groceries came to $390,

and I only paid $140!!!

I saved $250!!

Yeah Me!!!

Thank you Albertsons!

PS-I still had to go elsewhere for everything else.

Sophie's Shoes

We have been working on this skill for a little while, and today it is perfected!! Sophie can tie her shoes!!

She makes a tree, the bunny goes around the tree and into the hole!!

She is such a big girl!!!!

Playgroup Again

It was our turn to host playgroup again today. Peter was so excited! He helped plan the day. We started out by playing with the marble works! I told the boys to be so careful with the marbles, and to not put them in their mouths, or put them near my baby (he was safely away from the floor, held prisoner in his exersaucer) I still had nervous feelings about marbles after the episode at Wal-mart the other day. After that I went to put Max down for a nap and I came down to find the couch cushions all off the couch and all over the floor! Why is this a fun thing to do?? It drives me crazy... But the boys were definantly having fun!! The highlight of the morning was the making of the Fruit Loop necklaces!!! (In the picture is Peter, Josh C., Ty, and Josh T.) They all went crazy!! And I think more were eaten than strung on the string! Especially by Josh T. The other boys wanted them on the necklace, but ate them off the string as soon as the picture was snapped! And as you can imagine, there was a little mess to clean upour after we were done, so we got out the vacuum and all the kids took turns sucking up the mess while the rest of the kids counted to 5 while waiting for their turn. This was also a great activity for them, and hey - my floor got vacuumed. That gives me an idea... Maybe next playgroup we should play cleaning games in the kitchen and bathroom and bedrooms - mybe that's taking the game a little too far... Two hours goes by really fast with four 3yr lod boys running around and having fun!!!

Peter's Marble

Yesterday I had a scary thing happen, and I needed to write about it. I was out running errands with all 3 kids - that's scary enough - but as we were loading up to go to our last stop Peter found a little glass marble in the van. (Last Christmas Peter got a marble works set and we have tons of marbles) He was really excited about his find and was showing Sophie and Max. I told him very specifically to not let Max hold it, or put it in his mouth because he could choke. Well, when we got to Wal-mart (the last stop of our errands) I was driving around looking for the best parking spot, because I was not satisfied with parking a mile away, especially when it looked like rain. All of a sudden I heard this horrible gagging sound from the back seat. I looked in my rear view mirror to see Peter with wide and scared eyes as he was drooling pretty bad and was grasping for breath! I immediately stopped the car in the middle of the parking lot and got him out. I didn't know what to do...

Peter was choking on a marble.

Immediately there was a man that saw what was happening and came over to help. He asked if we needed to call 911. I wasn't sure because he could get a little bit of air in, but not much and just barely. Another woman came next and told me to raise his arms in the air. I was trying the best I could to pat his back, and give him the Heimlich maneuver - but it has been years since I took a course on how to. Especially on little children, and especially on your own child. Then another woman came over and she said to hold him upside down. I tried everything they said, but Peter was still barely getting any air and he was turning pale. I was so scared. Finally he threw up something and the marble went down. He was then able to take a deep breath and I felt a sense of relief. He was bawling and I still felt panicked. The whole time Peter was choking Max was screaming in the car and Sohpie got out of her seat and was standing at the door of the van watching everything. But I barely noticed them while I was taking care of Peter. I had forgotten my cell phone, and some of the people offered to give me theirs if I needed it. I said no, Rich's office was just around the corner from Wal-mart, and I wanted to go straight there to see him. ( I am so grateful for the kindness of strangers who all came to my aid in my time of need) So we all got in the van and I drove as fast as I could to see Rich. I was thankful he was free of patients at just that moment. Peter was doing as well as could be expected. He said to just wait and have him pass it through his bowels. But to watch for any stomach ache or constipation. And he should be fine. So, after we were all calmed down we all talked about putting things in our mouth (again!) and that if it is not food it doesn't go in our mouth because we could choke and maybe even die. Peter and I were crying and I held him for a long time and told him how much I loved him. I am so thankful that things turned out the way they did. I really feel like we had a close brush with death. Since then I have had an even greater love for Peter and my other children, and a greater respect for my calling as a mother and the charge I have over raising my children who are actually children of God. You realize just how much you take for granted. Like each smile and each simple request for you to play with your kids. You realize just how short life is, it can change in an instant.

Clowning Around

Last night for Family Home Evening Sophie wanted to paint faces. This all started when we put up our Halloween Decorations the other day and we found a package of Halloween make-up. She wanted to put it on right then and there, but we said no. I finally relented when it was for FHE last night. What else were we going to do with the stuff? Sophie spent all day planning out what we would paint on all our faces. She was a princess (that's funny, I never would have guessed she would want to be that!) Peter was a dinosaur (looks a little like a monster with black chicken pox) Daddy was a puppy dog (sort of...) and I was a clown (thanks Rich for the giant eyebrows and red nose!) and Max was to be a pumpkin (he didn't take to well to putting on make-up, so he ended up with smear marks and a sticker on his nose!) But it really was a fun activity. Thanks Sophie!! Oh yeah - taking the make-up off was not as fun as putting it on!

Tagged

The ABC’s of ME!
A- Attached or single: Attached
B- Best Friend: Richard
C- Cake or Pie: what kind of each? Pumpkin Pie with homemade crust and cool whip & Fun Fetti Cake with rainbow chip frosting pretty much tie
D- Day of choice: Friday. It's daddy day for one child (they leave and the house is calm all day long) and then date night (when it happens)
E- Essential Item: kids, I never leave home without them...
F- Favorite Color: Pink
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: worms, they last longer.
H- Hometown: Vernon, BC Canada
I- Indulgence(s): Birthday Presents for my kids. It is the most personally special day of the year. One present is not enough.
J- January or July: January is my birthday month, but July is my anniversary month - how does one decide? I like the summer weather better though.
K- Kids: Sophie (4 1/2), Peter (3), Max (8 months)
L- Life is Incomplete Without: Trials. (Did I say that out loud?) Love and smiles
M- Marriage Date: July 3rd, 2001
N- Number of Siblings: 1 + 17 in-laws. I count my in-laws spouses too. You are my sister too Cyndi!!! I love you!!!
O- Oranges or Apples: Apples. But I like orange juice better than apple juice
P- Phobias or Fears: Phobia of someone coming to the house when it is not clean, and fear of losing parts to games or sets of toys
Q- Quote(s): "No other success can compensate for failure in the home."
R- Reason To Smile: Life is better when you do. When my kids pick the flowers from the yard and bring them to me and say "I love you!" Any time Rich kisses me.
S- Season: Summer!! But I like spring when all the flowers come out. Like the trees that blossom with popcorn!!!
T- Tag Three +: Heidi, Janetta, Kristin, Holly
U- Unknown Fact About Me: I wish I were a kid and could dress up and go trick-or-treating!
V- Vegetarian or Meat Eater: Definitely meat eater.
W- Worst Habit: sleeping in. Procrastinating my laundry. Um, just procrastinating.
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Never had an x-ray. When pregnant with Max I got to have an ultra sound at each appt. He was a boy every time!! It was so fun!
Y- Your Favorite Food: Cake, cookie dough, strawberries, raspberries, fresh peas in pods, fettuccine, corn on the cob, why do we have to pick just one?
Z- Zodiac: Aquarius

Bubbles, bubbles and more bubbles...

Tonight the kids needed baths. They love bubbles so I put a few in (tonight we opened a new bottle of bubbles. We are on our green watermelon Elmo bubbles)- maybe a tablespoon or so. Max got out first and I went to dress him and put him to bed. I called Rich to come up and watch Sophie and Peter. We have jets in the tub and I heard the kids turn them on. When Rich finally got to them I heard him say things like "What did you guys do?" I was worried there was water all over the floor or something like that. When Max was finally off to dream land I went into the bathroom to discover bubble haven! When the kids turned the jets on, the stirred up the bubbles so much that they were starting to spill over the side of the tub! And the kids were in love with the fun of it all! There were so many bubbles that they couldn't even sit down!! The bottom picture here is of them kneeling tall in the tub, and still they are almost completely covered with foamy white cloud like bubbles. There is no doubt that they got completely clean tonight in their bath. Elmo sure does make powerful bubbles. I'll need to remember this next time they take a bath!