Painting Oops

Being lazy will catch up to you. We paint this room the beginning of 2010. We were too lazy to take down a wall mount so we just painted around it. Today when we took the mount down we saw the oops. To cover it up we hung a picture over it. We would touch it up except we dont have that paint anymore. We mix our own paint and used the rest to make a new color. For now on we will save some for touch up.

CAUTION: Exercising can be scary

Tonight I had a Christmas party with my cousins. We do a white elephant exchange as part of the party. In was lucky enough to come home with the shake weight. I've always wanted one but never wanted to spend the money for one. I didn't know if it would work. I found out tonight that it is so fun to play with! I was p[laying with it when Jere was putting the dogs away for the night. They saw me and got so scared, it was funny. So we put all but one away, grabbed the camera and recorded Spy's reaction.

New Toy

I got a new toy last night so im practicing posting to the blog.

We Are DONE!!!

We are all done with Christmas shopping and wrapping. For the rest of the month we get to take it easy. Good thing to because we have something almost every night now until Christmas. I don't mind being busy at night because then Jere is with me. I HATE being busy during the day. I really dislike dealing with other people without him. I like to go out and have fun but get anxiety easy. Jere helps me deal with that.

Getting in the Spirit of Christmas

We want to do more outings this December. Last night we went to see nativities at this guys house. They import them from Asia, Africa, and South America. We also went to Gardener Village. In the weeks to come we are going to Forgotten Carols, Temple Square, and Ogden Christmas Village. We also will see lights at The Night Before Christmas street and Christmas street.

A Non-traditional Traditional Thanksgiving

So this year for Thanksgiving we decided to keep it simple. We stayed home and just relaxed. We had the traditional big meal around lunch time, our meal however was not traditional. We had home made lunchables, nachos, and stuffing. We had pumpkin cookies and chocolate cupcakes for dessert. We finished off the night with a little Black Friday shopping.

What To Do About School?

We are trying to figure out what to do about Alma's schooling. I like the idea of unschooling but afraid we will miss important knowledge. I like Washington Online because the curriculum is all done for you.  But I don't like all the core classes, the 10% club or all the testing. The 10% club isn't fair. We did the same amount of math lessons as language arts, but because some of the math were optional it doesn't count as reaching 10% progress. As far as science goes we are doing two lessons a week like they suggest, but that doesn't get 10% progress I guess. Because of these issues Alma only got one reward in October.

Another Injury

Tonight Alma was running to let the dogs in. He ran down the hall and jumped. He landed with his left foot hitting the corner of the wall. He fell down in pain and cried out. He came limping into the T.V room. His foot looked horrible. the bony knob on the side of his foot was double in size and purple. We were afraid he broke something so we took him into Instacare. As we were in the waiting room at Instacare Alma started to feel better. So we were reassured that it wasn't broke. The doctor looked at his foot and called for an x-ray. Great news there was no break. His foot didn't have any signs or symptoms of a sprain. So the doctor concluded that all the pain was caused by the blunt force of hitting the wall. He got an air cast and was sent home. He has to wear the cast for a week. For the first couple of days he has to ice it and take Ibuprofen for swelling. He was quit fragile, on the verge of tears most of the night. I hope in the morning he will be better.

Dairy: the GOOD, the BAD, the UGLY

The end of August we took Alma off of dairy. We wanted to see if he had an issue with dairy. To support Jere stayed off dairy, mostly. On Saturday we put Alma back on dairy to see how he would do. Alma had lunch, dinner and snacks with dairy in them. Jere also had lunch, dinner and snacks with dairy in them. And I was stupid and had dinner with dairy.

THE GOOD: Alma  did great with dairy. Not a thing bothered him. We are more than 48 hours since his first dairy food and he still is doing great.


THE BAD: Jere got all congested. He felt better the next morning. So he is good with small amounts of dairy but not all day long.


THE UGLY:  I feel fine today but Saturday night and Sunday morning I felt like crap. Saturday night I regurgitating and throw up a couple of times ( but all at once). Sunday morning when I ate breakfast my stomach got tight. It was mad and still scared ( as if it has a mind of its own).  I had to eat crackers to calm it down. After getting non dairy foods in it I felt good. I've been so itchy, and I'm not looking forward to the break out that should be coming in a day or two.

I learned I probably will never be able to have dairy, so I need to stop trying. I really didn't think anything tasted that great, except the chili cheese dog. Our house will remain dairy free. Jere and Alma can have dairy when we eat out or at other people's houses.

What a Slacker

I can't believe i only blogged once in September. Lots has happened. We tilled the backyard and then planted seed. It is looking really good. It was long enough last Saturday for Jere to mow it for the first time. We've been to the zoo, played Soccer, and did 2nd grade photo shoot.

 

 

 

 

 

Flattening the backyard before seeding

Family photo from photo shoot

Perfect Heart

Today Alma had his appointment with the cardiologist. He was so nervous he laid perfectly still. They did an EKG and took his blood pressure in both arm and both legs. His EKG was perfect. He is a normal healthy boy. They listened to his heart and said it sounds like a text book stills murmur. I guess you never grow out of a murmur. You always have the murmur. What really happens is as you get older your chest wall gets thicker therefore harder to hear the murmur. It was funny the doctor turned sideways put his hand on his chest and then moved it out away from his chest. Demonstrating that you "out grow" it because you chest grows.

We were so excited. That was exactly what we wanted to hear. We know he had a murmur so the best news was it was just a harmless murmur. After the hospital we went to Cakewalk. Alma was getting cold and restless so we told him if he was good we would stop for a treat. He was great the rest of the time.

WELL CHECK UP

On Wednesday ( August 24th ) Alma had is well child check up. We talked to Dr. Dimick about changing Alma to a dairy free diet. We were curious if he needs to take any extra supplements. Dimick said that until adolescents you don't have to worry about calcium. We also talked about having an allergy test done to see if Alma needs an epi pen. The last thing we talked about was Alma's heart murmur. Dimick listened to his heart and said it still sounds the same, like a garden hose with a small nozzle on it. I was just curious how it was sounding. Dimick must have thought we wanted to do more. He wrote a prescription to see a cardiologist. He said just in case we want to. I thought it was in our hands to take further action. Shortly after we got home Primary Childrens called to schedule an appointment. I didn't want to be a bad mom and say, " No, We don't want to." So I set the appointment and had Jere check to make sure that the doctor is covered, he is:)

Krys went with us to the appointment and then to the new DI. As we were at the DI  I asked Krys what she thought we should do about Alma's heart. She said she wouldn't mess with the heart, it is worth it to get piece of mind. I asked Alma if he wants to get his heart checked and he said yes. So we were planning on scheduling with a cardiologist just not that soon. After the appointment was scheduled I was like well I guess we deal with the heart before the allergies. His appointment is September 6th.

Krys thought Dr. Dimick was cute. He was looking really good. Everyone who see Dimick "likes" him. Krys liked him so much she said he was going to be her pediatrician.

THE NUMBERS: I always thought Alma's growth spurts were in March or April, after his well child check up.  Because this one was on his half birthday we could chart his last growth spurt. He was 54% for his height and 21% for his weight. These numbers put together make his BMI in the 5%.  Dimick said you are the skinniest you will ever be between age 3 and 10. Alma is still on a nice growth curve. I was looking at the numbers from all the other well child check ups and noticed that Alma is getting taller faster than he is gaining weight. 
  His percentiles        Height:  age 4 14%                      Weight: age 4 24%
                                             age 5 32%                                   age 5 17%
                                             age 6  37%                                  age 6  18%
                                             age 7.5  54%                               age 7.5 21%

I guess he is playing catch up on his height. When he was born he was 95%


OFF TOPIC: Our old printed was having issues and wasn't working with Windows 7 so we had to get a new one. Kodak was doing $50 off a new printer if you recycled and old printer through Best Buy. We had our old  little Kodak printer that has been sitting in the garage over a year  that we took in. We wanted to sell it but knew we couldn't get much for it and no one wanted to buy it. There is no way we could've sold it for $50! We walked out of Best Buy with a nice new Kodak mega printer, ok not mega but a nice one. It prints, copies, and scans. My favorite part is that it can print nice pictures. I have missed printing my pictures at home.

THE FORT IS COMPLETE

It has been almost two months since we got Alma's fort and today we finally finished it. A week after getting it we had it set up and Alma could play on it. Last week Jere power washed to strip all the old stain and paint that the previous kids put on it. This week we stained/ painted it.

This shows the new tire swing Jere made today

HEALTHY AS AN OX

Monday (8-15-11) I got the lab results of my blood draw from the week before. They checked everything.  Kidney and liver function, blood sugar, thyroid, vitamin D,cholesterol,blood count and much more. Those are just the ones that Dr. Lym pointed out in his notes. There is also a line that says calcium, I assume that is the same thing I take my calcium chews for. ALL of my numbers are in the normal range, not one thing is too high or too low. 

I have been having fun with my results. I keep eating yummy things in front of Jere and saying" My triglycerides are normal so I can eat ANYTHING I want"  I keep eating what I normally eat, I must eat pretty healthy if all my levels are good. Getting all the good stuff ( vitamin D and Calcium) and not too much of the bad (cholesterol). It is nice to know that I'm perfectly healthy. Alot of things are both genetic and life style based. It looks like I have good genes and a pretty healthy life style.

Perfectly Anxious

I haven't been feeling that great lately so today I went to see Dr. Lym. I've had shortness of breath, chest pains, what I call the eternal side ache and other pains. He determined that it is anxiety. The shortness of breath is caused by anxiety. The chest pain and side ache are most likely acid reflux and anxiety can cause you to produce more acid. So he gave me some samples of a new drug for acid reflux, Dexilant. If that doesn't help in a couple of weeks I'm suppose to go back and then we will do some test to see what is causing the pain. I think it will help now that we know Jere isn't having heart surgery and I thought it might be acid reflux.

While there I also had them check my cholesterol. Since Jere got his I've been curious of what mine is. The nurse came in to take my blood. She had three tubes. I asked if they were all for cholesterol and she said no, Dr. Lym is doing a health panel on you. They check cholesterol, for diabetes, kidney and liver function, blood count and more. I should have the result by the end of next week. Dr. Lym will get the lab reports back and then write a letter and mail it to me. It will be good to see what those tests show.

A Great Weekend

This weekend has been good.

Thursday we got a check in the mail from doctors appointments that we had in March. We all got our eyes checked in March. I thought it should be concidered preventive care. They charged us our co-pay and we left it at that. I guess it was preventive because the check was the amount of all three of our co-pays.

Friday we met with the surgeon ( Dr. Kenwood) to discuss if Jere needs surgery or not. After talking about the pros and cons there will be no surgery right now. Instead Jere will just be monitored ( echo with bubbles) yearly and take a baby asprin daily. Jere fell asleep during the TEE and so he didn't realize that they did a bubble test. They mix air into salt water and then inject it into your IV. There should be bubbles in the right side of your heart but not the left because the lungs should filter the bubbles out. If they is any bubbles in the left side of the heart that means that blood went through the hole and bypassed the lungs. Jere had " a moderate" amount of bubles in the left side.  Dr. Kenwood was shocked to find out Jere ran cross country in high school. Dr. Kenwood said if I felt strongly about closing it I wouldnt give you a choice. At this point and with our insurance we are looking for a reason to close it ( and there isn't really one). There are lots of hoops we would have to go through. Jere would have to get a brain MRI with bubbles, to see if bubbles( clots) are getting to his brain. Dr. Sampson was going to have a fellow stroke specialist look at Jere's stuff and she what they thought.

Friday night we went to the drive-ins. We saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes and X-Men First Class. Both movies were so good. Alma is the one who actully chose which movies to see. You know your kid is growing up fast when they chose "grown-up" movies.

Saturday we slept in until 9am, it felt so good. Jere got up and took Alma to Home Depot for their monthly craft. When they got home we where going to go to the dumps and drop off some old computer parts and see if they had any outdoors paint or stain for the shed Jere built and Alma's fort. On our way to the dumps Jere wanted to drop the monitor off at the DI  because it still worked. Since we were there we went inside to look around. We found some books, a game, a cool fleece soccer blanket, a Willow Tree figure, a Backugan toy and an office style white board cabinet. It is 4 feet by 4 feet cherry wood. You open it up and both doors have cork board on them, the center is a huge white board and there is a projector screen that pulls down . It also had markers ( that all worked) , an eraser and push pins. We tried to get it into our car but it wouldn't fit so we had to call Ellen and Naamah to bring the truck. As a thank you we took them out to eat at Carl's Jr.

At the dumps we scored a green paint for the shed and a red stain for Alma's fort.

It was a great weekend.

TEE Test

About 12:30PM
Here I sit waiting for Jere to recover enough from the test. Every few minute the blood pressure cuff takes his pressure and every time an alarm goes off and it is low. First it was 91/48, now it is 88/48.  There is a yellow line that I don't know what it means, I thought it was his breathes per minute but I hope not because it keeps going to zero ( and I can see him breathing still). His heart rate is jumping around but staying in the 50's.

I was going to stay with Jere as long as they let me. Them kicked me out right as they were numbing him for the test and brought me back in right after it was done. The nurse said that Jere has a great gag reflex. It took three tries to get the ultrasound thing down his throat. Jere said he could not swallow so the doctor had to push it down his throat. Thinking about it, it makes sense. They relaxed muscle that have myotonia those puppies are going to move for awhile.  The doctor also said that surgery is up in the air. We met with Jere's neurologist Friday and we will talk to her about pros and cons of surgery and then Aug 5th ( a week and half away) we met with the surgeon and talk more about surgery. The doctor also said that the MRI showed possibly more than one hole. The PA that we met with for the results of the MRI didn't tell us that. The GREAT news is that there is only one hole. I guess Jere said that the doctor was very happy with the images he was getting on the ultrasound today. I can't remember now which way the blood was flowing, I think he said left to right, but some is going right to left as well. The reason it is hard to decide to do surgery now is because Jere has no signs or symptoms of a hole other that seeing the hole. The hole will wear out his heart faster if it doesn't get closed but we have to weigh the pros and cons.

There goes the BP cuff again lets see what the results are this time..........95/52. Pulse 63. now pulse is 73. Pulse back down to 58.

I'm so hungry. I could use a hamburger and fries. I'm too scared to leave Jere's side though.

Well that is scary. I just looked up what the yellow  line on the monitor means and I was right it is his breathing, breaths per minute. Right now it is 15.

I'm writing this because I'm bored and so Jere can read it after he comes out of the sedation and wants to know how things went. I'm so stinky, I should've chosen a stronger deodorant. My body is all messed up, any hightened emotion and i sweat, then I get cold so my body kicks up the heat and i sweat even more. It really STINKS, get it stinks hahaha.

1:17 PM
The cuff is going again, and the results are....... 93/49 pulse is 60 and breathe is 12.
 Breathing went back up to 14 and pulse is jumpy is low 60's

He just moved and pulse went into high 70's ans breaths were 17 but now they are back down to pulse 61 and breaths 14.

He speaks! "It's almost 1:30?" is all he says. When asked how he is feeling " good" is all I get before back to sleep he goes.

1:30
I was just thinking I'm documenting Jere's vitals so I need to know what they gave him. They did some local stuff in his throat and the sedative in his IV. The sedative was given in the lowest possible dose three times. They slowly gave it to him until it started to work. The name on the bottle is Bacteriostatic 0.9% sodium chloride and the bottle for the local says lidocaine hydrochloride 4% on it.

The cuff just went again, the alarm is sounding again 87/49 pulse 79 and breaths 17 Jere was moving then so now they are back to pulse 59 and breaths 11.

1:40
He is awake more now. The nurses where talking about cookies in the hall and Jere said " That ain't fair". He hasn't been able to eat since last night before bed.

I just heard the nurse talking at the nurse station. Saying room 21 ( that is us) has an interesting rhythm. Saying it looks like something, ( I didn't catch what she said). His pulse is 62 and breaths 6?! Now back to 11.

1:45
"I'm ready to go home" then back to sleep.

1:47
Cuff again 93/51 pulse low 60's breaths 14. " yeah, my BP didn't beep that time"

1:50
Try sitting/ moving up and looked horrible, white/greyish. Lay back down color came back, kind of. Pulse high 50's breaths 12. Starting to get restless, by restless mean tapping hands and feet.
When asked if bored get a head nod yes.

1:55
Nurse comes in ask about neasea Jere has none. One or two more BP then let us go. Took O2 off and O2 sensor.  Pulse low 60's breath 13. " Man I felt so far out when fell to sleep"

BP cuff 99/53. Pulse high 50's and breaths 13.

2:03
" hey, what you been up too?"
He farted he must be feeling better:)
Pulse is high 50's and breath 16, nope now 10. Now 18.

2:10
Talking and ready to go home if only the nurse would agree. Still need another BP . Still looking kind of white " I just want to get up and get some food"
Nurse comes in to discharge. All good to go.

Last BP106/53 pulse 60 breath 18 ( while taking IV out)

2:45
We are home finally. He was able to walk to the car by himself. " I have a frog in my throat, do I sound hot?" " Ugh, I don't feel like driving"

He has drank water and eaten a fruit cup. Now he is doing spaghetti So all is well.

Fullmer Camp 2011

This past week ( July 17-23) we were camping with my family. We had lots of fun. We went to Payson Lake, fishing, played in the river, played games, target practiced with paint balls and much more.

Jere and Alma went fishing, and actually caught a fish. Jere can careless about fishing but Alma wanted to go.  When Jere started to gut and clean the fish Alma was quite sad. Alma ate some of it but I don't know when he will want to go fishing again. He is such an animal lover.

Almost in tears

We went to the lake twice during the week, Monday and Thursday.  On Friday we found out that there were two bears walking around Payson Lake on Thursday. They couldn't catch them so they had to empty the campground.

We took ALL 5 of the dogs with us. They did pretty good. The little kids loved them. Everytime we turned around a little kid was over by the dogs. Spy got sick, he ate something that did NOT like him. That was a nasty mess to clean up. With the lack of a shower and washer we had to throw all the blankets away and bath the dogs with baby wipes.

Bare

Spy

Tiny

Kaiden, Bare,Spy, Tiny, Precious

INDEPENDENCE WEEKEND

We had such a fun weekend. We started out down south in Goblin Valley and finished up in the north at Antelope Island.

We left Friday morning for the four hour drive to Goblin Valley. We stopped in Lehi at Trafalga to see a XD movie, Jet and Jim. Before we checked in at Goblin Valley we stopped at Temple Mountain Uranium Mine. It was so hot after being in the car with A/C. The mine was so high up we only sasw it from a distance. They had some cool run down buildings. After we were done with the heat  we went to Goblin Valley and set up camp. As we were unpacking the car I noticed my shoe was broken. How was I suppose to hike with a broken shoe?!?!?!? So we finished setting up and then went into Hanksville. It was such a small town, no place to buy new shoes so we found some super glue to glue the soles back together. On our way back to Goblin Valley we saw a cool OLD tow truck.  When we got back to camp I started dinner and Jere was going to fix my shoes. He couldn't get any glue to come out so he cut the tube open and THE GLUE WAS DRIED!!!!!! We were so mad, we spent that time and money for nothing. On our way back into Goblin Valley we had stopped at the visitor center and bought some post cards, bookmarks, magnet and Alma a t-shirt. While we were walking around in the visitor center I noticed they had duct tape. So while I was finishing dinner Jere went back to the visitor center to get some duct tape. It pretty well on holding my shoes together until on Saturday when we were in the slot canyon and the tape wouldn't stick so I finally just pulled the broken pieces off and thought I will deal with it.

Saturday morning we hiked in the Valley of the Goblins. It was so fun. We were going places that Jere would have to help us into. Jere would pull us up or block us from falling, he is the man. After resting for a little and having lunch we went to Little Wild Horse Slot Canyon. That was the coolest place. Being claustrophobic it was scary but so worth it. It was in the afternoon so it was getting so hot again. When we got back to camp it was so hot almost unbearable. Jere took some sleeping bags (that we weren't using because it was so hot at night) and laid them out in some shade cast by our covered table so we could cool off. We laid there while Jere read to us.

Sunday morning we packed up, then went to the Valley of the Goblins to hike some more before leaving to come home. This time we found a cave. It was the coolest cave we found the whole time. It went back and then turned. At the end we could look up and see the guy standing above us. After hiking about and 1.5 hours we left for home.

Monday we met Jere's family at Antelope Island for a picnic. While we were Alma became a Jr. Ranger. He had to pick up trash, and do some other activities to learn about nature.  That afternoon we had a play-set raising party and BBQ. ( We got a free Rainbow play-set and needed help setting it up.) That night Dev and Naamah ( Jere's siblings) had brought some fireworks to light. Alma got his first lesson in lighting fireworks from Dev. He was taught how to light them safely and how to dispose of the safely.

It was a fun weekend.

Broken Heart But Doing Fine/ The Results

About a month ago Jere had an Echo done on his heart as normal monitoring of his heart. During his doctor visit a week later the doctor was acting weird asking interesting questions. They found a hole in Jere's heart but because they never have seen it before and Jere has no signs or symptoms they weren't sure if there was one or just the angle of the echo. (The echo tech had made a comment that Jere's heart was VERY photogenic that day. She was able to get the Carotid Artery which isn't easy. ) Because the echo tech made that comment I was sure there was a hole. Friday (June 17th) Jere went in for an MRI of his heart. ( He had an anxiety attack at the end of it, poor guy. I've had one before so I totally feel for him) Jere also had a sleep apnea test and his cholesterol checked. Yesterday we went back to get the results for all the test ( we met with a PA not the doctor). Here they are:

SLEEP APNEA: He just had to wear an oxygen monitor for a night. Anything above 90% is fine. Jere's range for the night was 98% - 88%. He was only at 88% for 5% of the night so not bad. That means he is border line sleep apnea. With most people with this result they would suggest losing weight but that isn't an option for Jere. They are just going to test him again if he has more symptoms pop up. Sleep apnea goes with MMD because the muscle walls get weak. I was relieved that he didn't need the CPAP. I was going to kick him downstairs to sleep if he needed one. I don't sleep well as it is that machine would never let me sleep.

CHOLESTEROL:
           The numbers:
                         LDL should be 130-100 or less Jere's 20 something. EXCELLENT
                         HDL should be about 40 or just above Jere's 23. NOT GOOD
                         Triglycerides should be about 150 or less Jere's 356 VERY VERY BAD

To get the HDL up we need to get the triglycerides down. To do that he has to quit smoking ( not a problem there), lose weight( from where?), exercise more (started that today. We bought a stationary bike off KSL) and watch his diet ( easier said than done).  So as a family we are all going to change our diets, can only make us healthier. I remember when I was a teen hearing my dad's test results from cholesterol and his LDL was low so was his HDL. Cholesterol is part genetics so i might have a tendency to have my numbers go the same way ( mine hasn't been checked yet because I haet needles).

HEART: There is a hole. It is between the right and left atrium. Alot of people have kind of a hole, more two over lapping flaps that don't touch and so blood can go through but not alot. Jere's is less common, it is a straight up hole. He doesn't have any of the physical exhausting that comes with it ( as far as we can tell, MMD cause exhaustion). So there are two reasons they close his kind of hole. First to help with the exhaustion, not an issue. The second blood clots, stroke and heart attack prevention. So the question isn't if they will close it but when. The GREAT news though is it isn't rip the chest open surgery, it is up the femoral artery. He doesn't have to be knocked out, they can do a local anesthetic. That is a huge relief, general anesthetics are dangerous for Jere. He has one more test to see how much blood flow is going through the hole and then we met with the surgeon. The last test is swallowing an ultrasound looking thing and " sitting it on his heart" to get more images and info.

We feel like it was a blessing that Jere's heart was so "photogenic". It is better to get it taken care of while he is still young and can recover fairly quickly. It would've been bad to find out he had a hole by him having a stroke or heart attack.

Getting Older

The last few weeks I've realized I'm getting older. Alma and I went swimming and I got a sunburn. I don't tan out as fast as I use to. Then we went to Lagoon a week later and I had to pee after going on the fast, intense rides. After my body got use to the rides I was fine. I was like a teenager again, riding ride after ride.

Update on the house projects: The bathroom is STILL being worked on. Jere should be done soon. I've worked alittle bit on moving the rocks in the front yard. We are being given a Rainbow play set so that will bump some of the other projects down the list. We saw the play set yesterday and Alma loved it. It looked really cool. A coat of paint and it will look new.

Still going.......

Well the bathroom still isn't done.  The drill's battery died tonight. Could be because Jere charged it way too long.  So we went to Home Depot to get a new drill or a battery. As we are looking at the power tools Jere picks up a drill and says that is cute. I laughed so hard. He won't live this down for awhile. We ended up getting the exact same drill ( just newer model) we got for our wedding eight years ago. This drill came with two batteries, a soft case and charger. So until the motor in the old drill dies we will have two drills, SCORE!

FEMALE BONDS (ie acrylic nails)

Kari is going to school to learn how to do nails. I know it can be hard to find models sometimes so I volunteered to be a model if she needed one. Saturday May 28th early in the morning I was her first model. It took a little time and they were a little thick but not bad for her first set. Her instructor kept saying how good the nails were. I was thinking I would leave them on for awhile, maybe I will like them I thought. I was WRONG!

I got home around lunch time and thought they aren't too bad. I tried to eat lunch, nachos, it was so hard I ended up eating them with a spoon. The rest of the night they weren't bugging me, in fact they were fun to play with. Sunday morning I tried to shower. It was so hard to wash my hair. The getting dress was hard I needed help buttoning my skirt and It was hard to tuck in my shirt. I was walking around the house say I felt like Calypso (Pirates of the Caribbean) and I needed to be freed from my female bonds.

Sunday night I started to take the nails off. It was taking forever. I got most of it off the left hand and on the right hand I got all the tips off and filed smooth but it is still thick on the nail plate.

Cheaters Never Prosper

Alma brought me his math to check today. I was going over the answers and quite amazed that he did so good. When I got to the last page I see " answers will vary". I called Alma in and asked if he had cheated. He admitted  that he had. After talking alittle he said he had been cheating for days. I asked "You thought you were smarter than mom?" He nodded. I told him that cheating never pays off. That he may get away with it for a couple of days or a couple of weeks but that he would always get caught. It is funny. Jere and I keep laughing about it. As his punishment he had to carry concrete up from the basement AND do more math pages.

Projects, Projects and More Projects

The last couple of days we have been busy tearing the downstairs bathroom apart. The people we bought the house from made it look pretty but not water proof, and in a shower that isn't good. I'm scared how much it is going to cost us to remodel it. We were just planning on redoing the shower but as we got into it ALL the walls came down. Who uses plywood and not sheet rock?!?! Most likely Jere will have to move the drains, not fun. Alma is really a big help now that he is older. He deos all the "running" that we don't want to do. I will post more as we get into it

Another project we have in mind is tilling the front and back yard. Then laying a sprinkler system and grass seed. That will be lots of work.

And ANOTHER project is repainting the kitchen. Finishing the basement and painting it as well.

On top of all that we are planning on using the plywood from the bathroom to build a shed or a compost box.

Lots to do, we will see if we get it done.

A few of my (Alma's) favorite things

Saturday after dinner Alma had a busy night. First he painted, spray painted that is, his dragon sculpture. Then he came in the house and played the piano. Next he went to help Jere with a computer and finished the night off with helping bake cookies. He definitely is well rounded, maybe slightly right brained.

The finished project

Dental Cleanings

Today we had our dental cleanings. I went first. They said my mouth was looking really good. I had no cavities and my gums were healthier. I guess my gums have be red and puffy. Alma and Jere went next. I stayed with Alma but could hear Jere talking in the other "room".  Alma had no cavities. He does have one more molar that still needs to come in. I have heard of the 12 year old molars but not 6 year old ones. I asked if kids get cranky like babies when they teeth. That would explain some of his moodiness. Jere does need work done. He has two cavities, they touch each other so it counts as one, and a crown. He had a cavity from years ago that was filled crappy. They have been telling us for awhile that that tooth would eventually need a crown because of all the tiny cracks on it. About a month ago it chipped.

We were teasing that all the cavity free people get a reward and the cavity people don't. I kept saying because my gums improved I get an Ipad. The dentist said if that is what you get for healthy gums I'm going to go scrub my teeth. It was a fun day at the dentist. I know that sounds funny but we love our dentist. He is a real guy, his teeth aren't perfect. Him and his staff don't make you feel guilty for not doing everything you are suppose to do.  They are just glad you are there getting your teeth checked.

Like Father Like Son

A week ago ( when we actually had sunshine) Alma was outside playing with his friends. They were riding bikes and scooters. I went inside to do some stuff. Alma came in a little while later and said he needed help, his scooter was stuck in the fence. I thought that he ment like his handle bars or something. When I got outside I saw that it was his back tire, in the same spot Jere got stuck in the fence. I laughed so hard and ran inside to grab the camera.

Jere running into the fence

Alma stuck in the same spot

There's a snake in my pants.

***CAUTION*** This post is extremely funny but crude.

Today Alma had a No Girls Allowed club at the library. As we were getting out of the car his pants looked extremely funny. Almost like he had a stiff one. I gave him a strange look and asked " What is in your pants?" He laughed and said " I know." Then he pulled his snake (a slap bracelet snake) out of his pants. It was half rolled and half straight, hence why it looked so funny. It took all I had not to bust out laughing because I have a bad mind and I thought it was hilarious! He was trying to sneak it into the club. I never let him take toys because they will distract him and the other kids.

Let the Fun Begin

Tonight was Alma's soccer orientation. I knew we would be leaving there with Jere as the coach. I think the biggest hint was the phone call we got Tuesday night asking Jere to be the coach. He told them he was willing to be an assistant but didn't feel he had enough experience ( he has no experience with soccer)to coach. But if no one else was willing/ able to do it then he would study up on the rules and be the coach.

We got there and only one other kid from Alma's team was there. It was funny the other kid that was there lives in my parents ward. We mentioned to the dad that they called looking for a coach. He was willing to help coach as well. When the sports director came over to talk to us the other dad was on the phone so Jere just volunteered to be the head coach. There is a mom who is coaching her older kid's team but said she could help at the games until we get to know what we are doing. I'm kind of team mom, I took charge of making sure we have treats at every game. I don't know if we do a team party at the end but I would be fine with that.

Numbers

The first thing with numbers is today Nathan turned 14. So for awhile Matt and I are 28, Nate is 14, and Alma is 7. Two years ago Matt and I was 26 and Robby was 13. Next year Robby will be 16 and Alma will be 8.

Yesterday I had my eye exam. I was a little concerned when the assistant and the  Dr asked if I have noticed a vision change. Yes I have noticed a change but I couldn't tell how it has changed. My right eye went up by .50 and my left eye went up by 1.00! I definantly  need glasses.

The last "numbers" topic is Alma's dibble test. Got his results today. He fluently read 29 words per minute.That means he is an average first grader. His teacher would like us to just focus on reading for the spring and summer. Since he completed the other subjects awhile ago this will be easy.

HOP

We got to see yet again another movie screening tonight. We saw Hop. It was a cute movie. I laughed alot during the middle. The ending I thought was cheesy. I hate how it takes most of the movie to get to the climax and then it is over in minutes. But looking at the movie as a whole it was a great kids movie.

Chocolate Bunny

This has been a hard holiday for me. All the candy that I love to eat at Easter is chocolate. My favorite thing is to bite the ears off a hollow bunny and then drink milk out of it. We found a bunny mold and made me one. Alma wanted one but it takes some time to make one, and  it isn't cheap. We bought Alma one from Harmon's a couple of days later. It was a little thick but o' so good. It was so thick that no milk leaked out at all. Here are some pictures of the yummy bunny.

Making the bunny

Putting it together

The finished bunny.

The bunny getting ready to be eaten:)

Look no leaks!!!

I was so happy to have a chocolate bunny

The straw got frozen in the bunny

 Facebook status: My "little" brother is turning 14 in a week. Jere called to see what he wants for his birthday. Jere asked what size of t- shirt Nate wears. Nate replied "extra large." Jere not even thinking asked " Is that kids or adult?" I started to laugh, last i heard he was 6'2''!!