Houseful

My parents usually come down for Thanksgiving. This year, because they came in September for Dan's Priesthood ordination, they said they weren't going to come in November. So we have been planning a small Thanksgiving with just the six of us. Late last week (Friday, I think), my sister called and asked if her family could come because they have some business to do in Tucson. Grandma and Grandpa decided to come too. Now I'm expecting a houseful this afternoon and I'm wondering where 15 people are going to sleep in my house! So since I got home from LA (which was fabulous by the way), I've been trying to get blankets and sheets washed (I have some smelly boys), clean the bathrooms, shop for food (I hadn't even bought a turkey until Monday, now it's trying to defrost), help in my kids classrooms, go to Primary Presidency meeting, wash some towels, shovel out the sewing room, etc. etc. I really don't have time for blogging, so what am I doing? Blogging.
I am excited to spend a little time with my sister and her family and my parents. The kids are SO excited to see their cousins. It should be lots of fun, or at the very least, lots of chaos!

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to LA I go...

I am going to LA to shop for fabric in the Fashion District. I am quite excited! It should be lots of fun. After all, I'm going with some friends and leaving the kiddos behind. What could be better?

I am...

...a lazy bum.
I have been enjoying the *slightly* cooler weather and doing not much of anything for the last couple of days. I love a good book. I'll blog more when I'm done reading and if I can think of anything remotely interesting...

1st Grade Musical

There's no High School Musical for us yet, but we did have a 1st Grade Musical last week. Sam did a great job! He had a speaking part and he actually said it. (It wasn't understandable, but at least he got up there and did it. I can't get him to do anything in Primary, even though there are a LOT fewer people. Go figure). I had the privilege of helping them paint their shirts (ugh), but they turned out really cute. Sam really got into the songs and he really jammed on the guitar! It was fun to see the kids get so excited about what they were doing. I think Sam might have a future in musical theater. He could be the next big star on the Disney channel. What do you think?

Seven Random Things

I got tagged by my friend Jessie a couple of weeks ago. I don't know about this one, but I'll give it a try. It is supposed to be seven random things about me.

1. My favorite color is yellow. I'm wearing it right now. It makes me feel happy.
2. Before I had kids, I thought the perfect offspring would be two boys 18 months apart, then a girl three years later. I think I must have been crazy. Who would want two boys that close together? They would fight all the time! Come to think of it, all kids fight no matter when or where they are in the line-up. Maybe I should have stopped at one. (Just kidding, I think only kids are lonely).
3. I have moved 9 times since I've been married. Three different states. We have lived in Arizona the longest we have lived anywhere. (Four years, nine months and counting...)
4. I made lots of yummy things today: strawberry freezer jam, Lion House rolls, brownies (actually Olivia made them, I only helped), apple crisp, "Squished" potatoes, fresh green beans and steak for dinner (best dinner ever). I'm thinking I should have made banana bread because I have a whole bunch of icky bananas, but tomorrow is just as good, right?
5. I'm thinking about becoming a substitute teacher, but I'm a little afraid that my lack of patience would be a problem. On the other hand, I would only be with a certain class for a day, and I can do anything for a day, right?
6. I haven't scrapbooked since May when my sister came down for the weekend. I'm too busy blogging. At times, I think I should give this up and go back to the scrapbooks, but this is so much easier (and there is instant gratification AND feedback)
7. I drink way too much Diet Coke. But that probably doesn't really count as a random thing, because I think everyone knows I drink too much Diet Coke. But, hey, I needed one more thing for my list, and my brain hurts trying to think of something.

The rules of this tag state that I am supposed to tag 7 people, but I'm afraid of hate mail if I actually do it, so I'm leaving it open. If you would like to randomly think about your life and share it with the blogging world, consider yourself tagged!

Don't Die!

So, Olivia has been really sick this week. It all started with a cough last week, which kind of hung around, but didn't get a whole lot worse. Then on Sunday, she was dizzy, coughing, feverish and just plain sick. I actually thought she was faking--well, not exactly faking, but playing it up a bit. I guess I win the bad mom award. She stayed home from school on Monday, and I was going to make her go on Tuesday, but she was hot, so I let her sleep. When I got home from dropping the other kids off (I woke up at 7:30 that day, they usually leave at 7:33. Like I said, bad mom), she was up and had a really funky rash. Now, I've been a nurse, and a mom of four and I'd never seen a rash like this. So, I did what all good moms do, turned on the internet. When that failed me, I called the doctor. (This is actually pretty out of character for me--I think going to the doctor is a waste of time. Bad mom). Turns out that the rash is called Erythema Multiforme and they don't know what causes it. It'll get worse before it gets better. They were also concerned she had Valley Fever and/or pneumonia, so we had to go for x-rays and blood tests. After spending the WHOLE day in waiting rooms, we had to back for another chest x-ray because the first was hazy. After the second, they did determine that she has pneumonia. All hail antibiotics!

So, on to today. She stayed home from school AGAIN, but when I went to the school to pick up some homework, EVERYONE knew that she had pneumonia. The doctor's office called this afternoon and said she does not have Valley Fever (big sigh of relief), and that it is probably viral pneumonia because she really isn't any better yet. Bah on antibiotics! And the rash is getting worse (and really itchy).

After school, she missed Activity Days. A couple of the girls came by after it was over with this note:

I think it's HILARIOUS that they told her not to die! How funny are 10 and 11 year old girls? Can you say DRAMA?!?

I'm afraid that she will be my buddy again tomorrow, and then part of me wonders if she should even go to school on Friday, because it's FRIDAY! What can that accomplish? Is that a sign of a bad mom, or a really cool mom? Any thoughts?

Julia in the News!

Check out this article about Julia's first place finish in the Synchro meet last week. Too bad she quit the day after the meet! Oh well. I figure she is five and we'll start up again when (and if) she wants to. No pressure from me!

Synchro and Doughnuts

For all of you bloggies just dying to support Olivia's synchronized swimming habit, here are two lovely options for you:

1. Krispy Kreme coupons: Buy a certificate from Olivia (or me) for $6, and get a dozen original glazed doughnuts. Save $1.50 on each dozen, just by seeing us first! This will be an on-going fundraiser for Olivia through out the year.


2. Swim-a-thon: Olivia will be swimming laps (up to 200) next week. You pledge an amount per lap, or a set amount and then pay up after she swims. (FYI- she swam all 200 last year, no problem!) If you would like to contribute, please let us know. Also, her team is a non-profit, so anything you donate to this fundraiser is TAX-DEDUCTIBLE!!!

Olivia thanks you all in advance and wants you to know that she LOVES synchro, and she is really hoping to make it to Nationals this year with her solo and trio. She is super dedicated, and I really admire all that she sacrifices in order to excel at this really difficult sport.

Thank you all in advance, and we hope to hear from you soon!!

A couple of weeks ago (during Fall break), Dan and Olivia went boating with some friends. I thought some of these pictures were really cool, so here there are:

I love this picture!

Miracle!

I thought I should let all my concerned blog buddies know that a miracle occurred the other day. I brought Sam in to talk about the table with his really nice printing on it. He, of course, went into hysterics because he thought I would be so mad. I told him I wasn't mad, but he did need to try to clean if off. I handed him a bottle of rubbing alcohol and some Q-tips and told him to get to work. Now, I was expecting him to put in a lot of elbow grease and not see any improvement-thus reinforcing that we should not write on the furniture. Imagine my dismay (!) when the stinkin' marker came off with so little effort! Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the table looks better, but I really wanted this to be a learning experience for Sam. I'm hoping that the lesson he learned was NOT that it's okay to write on stuff because it comes off easily! Not really the lesson I had in mind. But nevertheless, truly a miracle, I think.