Warning Gross Toe

Awhile back Harrison broke his big toe. He lost the nail and a new one grew back but it caused him to have an ingrown toenail. He has had this for about 2 months. Finally on Thursday morning I looked at it and it oozed out green puss. Right at 9am I called the Doc and got him in that afternoon. Well he ended up having minor surgery. They gave him 4 shots in the big toe to numb it and then from the tip of the toe all the way into the skin cut out his toe nail. They then cleaned it out real good and took out the nail bed so he wont grow anymore nail on that side. They then gave him 2 stitches. I watched the entire process and was grossed out. I helped Harrison sit up for a minute to watch but he couldn't take it and back down he went. This is what it looked like pretty gross. I wish I had my camera at the doc office to take pictures of step by step process.

He then got bandaged up and had to stay off his foot for 24 hours. He is on pain pills and an antibiotic for the infection. He goes this Thursday to get the stitches out and make sure the infection is clearing up. We have to change his bandage daily. And he is wearing my flip flops.

Today he wanted to make sure he didn't have to pass the sacrament at church tomorrow. He didn't want people looking at his foot. Poor kid. The doctor said it takes about 2 months for something like this to heal. But he is doing pretty good so far. I thought he would be in more pain than he is. Sorry if this post grossed ya out. I think it is cool.

weight frustrations

OK as a lot of you know I am apart of a biggest loser contest. I have been at the same weight for 4 weeks now. I am not cheating on my food and I have been exercising 5 days a week and still no loss. I was in tears yesterday crying on Chris' shoulder. He made a comment that maybe the weight I am at will be what I need to stay out for the rest of my life or he said maybe I need to try something new besides weight watchers program. Anyone have any ideas that I might try? Sorry I consider a blog a place to vent sometimes.

Tevin Sweeping

I was laying down with Holden and Tevin came in trying to put off sweeping the kitchen floor. I finally got firm with Tevin and told him to get it done.

When I got up Tevin was sitting in the rocking chair not even knowing I was taking his picture cause there was a new Spongebob on and he was too focused into that. I told him once again to get his job done.

A couple minutes later this is how I found him. I swear.

Then again not doing what he was suppose to be doing.

This is when he finally realized I was taking his picture. I had to get mad at him in order for him to get the floor swept. A job that should of only took 5 minutes ended up taking Tevin 35 min...... Ugh. What to do with this kid sometimes.

Chocolate Milk

Holden loves Chocolate Milk. He decided he wanted to make it himself. He first had to sniff it.

He then had to get a spoon and dig in.

But instead of putting it in the cup he put it right into his mouth. Yummy!!

I was very proud of him putting 3 spoon fulls in without spilling too much on the counter.

He then had to watch the chocolate sink to the bottom of his cup before he would let me put the lid on to shake it. Holden usually has about 6-8 cups of choc milk a day. He use to have over 12 and had to cut him back.

Cruise

Well, it is for sure on from April 16-21 Chris and I are going on a cruise to the Bahamas. We are so excited. We haven't been on a cruise since Sloane was a baby. This time there will be no kids with us. Chris and I have needed just couple time for A LONG TIME. We are both going to lose a little extra weight so we can indulge ourselves in all the great food that are on the ship. We are going on a Royal Caribbean Cruise line. Chris' sister Lynn is going to come down with her kids and come and take care of Sloane and Holden. The boys will go with their dad. I would like to really thank Lynn for doing this for us. We will return the favor whenever it is needed.

Anyway, nothing new is going on. I can't believe there is a little over 3 months of school left. The year has gone by really fast. I do have to tell you what Holden said yesterday. I was folding the laundry and he came in asking what I was doing and I told him I was folding clothes. He looked at the pile and noticed it was his clothes. He examined a pair of his pants and then smelled them. He then jumped in my arms and gave me a hug and a kiss and said "good job mom." I am glad that someone appreciates my laundry skills.

Sisters Weekend Slide Show

As you can see from the slide show I had a blast. For a moment I almost didn't go because Holden got really sick with a fever and throwing up. He had it for 2 days. But I still went and glad that I did. On the Friday after dropping off kids where they needed to be I met up with Chris in Vegas and had breakfast. We were only together for an hour and then he had an appointment to get to. I then had 5 more hours of driving. I have to say having a quiet car was WONDERFUL. I got to enjoy a book on my mp3 player.

I arrived at our hotel first. Alison and Heidi showed up about 30 min later. We didn't go out because it was down pouring rain. We were kinda bummed. So we talked, watched movies, ordered pizza, talked about our families. Then we went to bed.

The next morning we got on our Grumpy shirts and hats and headed to Disneyland. It was raining for a few minutes in the morning, but our prayers were answered and it cleared up. We rode everything in the park. The longest we had to wait in a line was 25 minutes and that was for the Matterhorn. Everything else was 5-15 min. It was fun. We even went to Fantasy land and went on all the kid rides. After finishing everything in the park we went shopping in Downtown Disney. We pretty much went into every store. If was nice not having our husbands hurrying us along since this is the part they hate. We then left the park and went out to dinner to Denny's and by this time it was raining again. We went to our rooms and got in PJ's and enjoyed some wonderful treats that Alison made (pumpkin cookies, pumpkin dip with graham crackers, banana bread and tons of chocolate).

The next morning which is Sunday it was raining really hard so we decided to hang out in our rooms and be lazy. We watched 27 dresses and then got ready in the t-shirts Alison had made for us that said "Sisters Weekend 09" we also wore hates that said Evil on them since we are the evil sisters. he he.... We arrived to California Adventure around 2pm which was good because they were closed all morning because of the rain. I had never been there so it was a new experience for me and loved it. We rode everything and the lines were 10 min waits. I have never seen the parks so empty. We loved the roller coaster the best. We rode it 3 times. Soaring over California was amazing too, it felt like you were flying. But my favorite part of the entire day was dragging my sisters on the Tower of Terror. The entire time in line I was teasing them. I was laughing so hard and I have to say Alison looked a little flush right before we got on the ride. We were in the front row and needless to say Heidi and Alison had their eyes shut the entire time and I was laughing and enjoying myself. We bought the picture that they take when your on the ride. I was smiling and sure enough Heidi and Ali had their hands over their eyes. It was a priceless picture. Alison bought her a pin saying she survived the tower of terror. For those who don't know what that ride is, you are in an elevator and it takes you up and then drops you and it does it about 4 times in a row. IT WAS A RUSH!!!!

I was a little bummed because my camera battery died so I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted. Alison and Heidi are suppose to send me their pictures and if there any that are different from what I posted I will add them later. We left when the park closed and went to Denny's again for dinner. We were so tired. We went straight to bed. The next morning which was Monday we got all ready and packed up and watched another movie and then had to say our goodbyes. I didn't show tears until after I got into the car and was alone. I loved the time we spent together and the bonding that we had. I can't wait until next year when Heidi is the one in charge.

My drive home was a long one. Very bad weather. Rain in the lower elevations and tons of snow in the higher. I even pulled off to the side of the road so the snow plow could clear the road for me. It was very tense. My neck and shoulders hurt really bad, by the time I got home. I was happy to see my family. I did miss them. I got all the kids a big sucker and told them where I went. They were bummed they didn't come but glad I had fun. Holden loved the fact I saw Buzz Light year and Woody.

Anyway, this last week was busy getting home life back in order. But I hope you have enjoyed reading about my weekend. I will never forget it.

Sloane's Talk

I think Krissy is in the process of putting together a blog describing her trip to Disneyland with her sisters but I thought I would post the talk Sloane gave today in Primary.

Here's a note from Sloanie;

Hi, this is my talk and I hope you like it. I love you all and I can't wait to see you whenever. Do you think what I said about having NO sisters was funny? All the kids laughed! And I mentioned all of you in my talk.


Good morning Boys and Girls. My talk today is about families. I love my family very much. I have a Dad and a Mom and 4 brothers and NO sisters.

I’m so glad that I was born into my family and I know my family loves me very much. Heavenly Father sent his Son Jesus Christ to die for us so that we can return to live with him as a family. I’m thankful for Heavenly Father and Jesus and I love them very much. I know that we can be together forever as a family because of them.

I also have other family members that I love very much. I have Grandpa’s and Grandma’s and aunts and uncles and cousins and we all have so much fun together. I’m so glad that if we do what is right we can all be together again and live with Heavenly Father.

Heavenly Father wants all of his children to return to him someday and he wants them to be part of a family.

I know the Church is true and I love Jesus and my family very much. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

time goes by

Well I just realized that it has been a week since my last post. Nothing much has been going on except for me counting down the days till I go to California and meet up with my sisters. We are staying in Anaheim and going to Disneyland for 2 days. No kids, no hubbies, no strollers, no diaper bags, no potty breaks.....aah heaven. And it gives us 3 girls a chance to be kids again. So I leave tomorrow morning at 8am and will be back Monday evening. I plan on taking a lot of pictures so get ready for a slide show when I get back.

If any of you see my kids before I get back do not mention Disneyland. They have no idea that, that is where I am going.....hehehe.

Holden has been fighting a cold and has been very unhappy, especially today. I have been running on about 3 hours of sleep a night and the rest of the time dealing with Holden. I will be looking forward to getting some good nights sleep this weekend.

Anyhoo... stay tuned.

Girls after Harrison

OK well I had to leave Harrison home to babysit for me for a bit and while I was gone 2 girls came over and brought him some chocolate chip cookies. He said thanks and called to tell me. I told him they must like him. When I got home I found 2 girls on my door step knocking on the door I told Harrison to answer the door and the same 2 girls gave him some more cookies that they just got done baking that were Oatmeal chocolate Chip with nuts. He was very polite and thanked them again. I just giggled after he shut the door. He says "mom I am going to get so fat if they keep on feeding me cookies" I laughed even harder. I said for him to just be nice and not to hurt their feelings.

Anyway, I had 3 of the cookies which were actually pretty good. It blew my diet out of the water for today. Speaking of diet. Last night was weigh in and I lost another 4.1 pounds woohoo.
12 more to go.

Great to be 8

Yesterday Sloane had a meeting to go to called "Great to be 8" they talk about everything you need to know about being baptised and what achievement days are and they got to see the baptismal font. I wasn't able to attend cause I have been really sick. Sloane came home running into my room all excited. She told me everything about it. She is the youngest one. She will be baptised the first Saturday in December. If the white dress she wore when we got sealed still fits her she wants to wear that dress on her big day. If it doesn't she wants Grandma Feaster to make her a new dress. Anyway, I haven't seen her this excited since her birthday.

We are alive!!!

Well what got me to finally write was this morning I had a message from my dad who lives in California saying he checked my blog but there hasn't been an update so he had to call to see how I was doing. I love getting his phone calls but it did make me feel bad that I haven't written in awhile.

So I am just going to say we had a wonderful holiday season and glad it is over at the same time. A week and a half ago I started potty training Holden and let me tell ya he was so EASY!!! Finally something easy with this child. He pretty much was trained in 3 days. And haven't had any accidents in a week. What a relief to have that over and done with.

Kids are doing well. Wanting summer to come. Tevin in trying to get into a program that will let him start some of his college courses now. We will see if he will get in. Sloane has been having fun going to birthday parties. One last week and 2 this week. She is a popular girl. Chandler and Harrison are having fun hanging out in their room since I cleaned it out and got rid of a bunch of stuff. They love a clean room.

Chris is busy as usual. He has been in Vegas since Wednesday and will be home tonight. I am doing the same old thing. Nothing new with me except I decided to stop being a Stampin Up Demonstrator. Kinda of sad to stop, but I need a break. I also have joined a biggest loser contest at Sloane's school. It is kinda hard weighing in front of a bunch of people, but they all keep you motivated to keep loosing. It has been going on for 2 weeks now and I have lost almost 6 pounds. Today I am not being good. It is raining so I am making cookies and I keep eating the dough. When Chris gets home I need to go to the gym and work out for a couple hours to burn off some of those calories.

Anyway, no much else is going on. I will be better at blogging more often. By the way the Twilight movie comes out to DVD March 22ND but you can pre order it now on Amazon for 22.95 with extra footage etc....woohoo.

Holden's birthday

Here's a quick video of Holden's birthday. I'll blog more later.

President Orr

This actually happened last week but I wanted to report that Chandler was set apart as the President of the teachers quorum in our ward. Tevin is his 2nd counselor and surprisingly seems to be OK with what could have been perceived as a slight. I think both boys understand that the call comes from the Lord.

Chandler seemed surprised when I explained to him that only 4 people in a ward hold priesthood keys and right now, he's one of them. He's taking the calling very seriously and did a great job of standing in front of all the brethren during priesthood opening exercises this afternoon and announcing what the teachers quorum would be doing on Tuesday.

We're proud of our Chanman!

Update

We left at 6am on Tuesday morning and arrived in California around 11 am. We relaxed for a couple hours and then received a phone call from my dad that it was OK to come and see my grandma. When I first saw her I was shocked at how much she has changed in a couple of years. She looked so weak and small. I re introduced all the kids to her and she said each of their names and the kids leaned over so she could give them a kiss. Holden was the only one who wouldn't. He thought she was a ghost and would not go near her. I felt so bad. The day I got there was the last day that she would talk. I was rubbing her hands and that would make her fall asleep. My sister Alison was rubbing her feet and she would keep on telling us it tickled. We spent about an hour and a half with her then it was time to let her rest again.

The next day we let the kids hang out with cousins and just I went over for a bit to visit with my grandma again. I talked to her and told her of my favorite memories. When she woke up from sleeping for a minute I made the mistake of asking her if she was dreaming about grandpa who passed away a couple years sooner. She closed her mouth shut and started breathing very heavy. She was crying. I felt horrible. I called my dad over and he helped calm her down and he said she misses grandpa so much. I spent a lot of time with her and talking with my dad and lost track of time cause I was going to leave that night. But we ended up staying the night again and came home of Thursday. We got home around 3:30 yesterday.

Then I got a text message at 2:30 this morning that my grandma had just passed away. I laid in bed crying until I fell back to sleep. The funeral will be held on Tuesday. So we will be leaving Monday to go back down and coming back Wednesday so the boys can get back to their dads for the holiday weekend. I just have to say our little Sloane stayed with her great grandma for about 30 minutes rubbing her head and holding her hands. A couple of her girl cousins wouldn't touch her and Sloane said it was OK and showed them what to do and then they were not afraid to touch her. She even gave her a kiss goodbye. I cry just thinking about how tender hearted she is.

I am so glad I went down to say my goodbyes to her. I was unable to do it with my grandpa. It meant so much to me the last few moments I had to be with her. She was a great woman and great grandma and she will be missed deeply. She touched every ones lives that she came in contact with. And I am happy she is back with our heavenly father and with her wonderful husband. You will be missed.

OK I just realized that the day of her funeral is Chris' and my wedding anniversary. oh wow

Going out of town

I just wanted to let you know that the kids and I are headed to California. I got a call last night from my dad that my grandma isn't doing to well and the doctors only give her a couple days to live. I wasn't planning on going down but when all my siblings and my dad went to see her today she was talking and I got a text message from my older sister to get down there while she is still responsive. So as of right now I will be gone until Thursday. I want to thank all of you who have offered to help me with things so I could get out of town. It is great to have wonderful friends who can jump in whenever you need it. I hope I can return the kindness when you are in need. Thanks again.

Holden & Sponge Bob

We finally received our new camera as a replacement for the defective one we purchased online about a month ago. I'm just testing the video function.

What to do

OK, with the economic crisis going on Chris and I are trying to be careful due to you don't know where your future is going right now when it comes to your job. Well we had a family home evening on finances and to help the kids understand what is going on. So I told the kids to only put 3 things on their Xmas lists. Well all Tevin wants is an Electric Guitar package that is around 179 at Costco. Harrison wants a Bass Guitar package that is around 199. Chandler bless his heart only asked for some controllers for the PS2 that come to be around 100 for all of it. Then they all have shoes on their list. We are not sure what to do with the 2 boys that asked for the guitars. Any advice???

Sloane's Birthday

Yesterday was Sloanie's 7th birthday and as you see, she had a wonderful day and was obviously well compensated. Apologies for the fuzzy pics but we are still waiting for our camera to be repaired so in the meantime, I am using my cell phone.

Krissy asked me write a blog entry dedicated to our special little princess so please bear with me as I'll no doubt come across as very biased;

As our only girl, Sloanie has always been very special to Krissy and I. She's always been very well behaved (especially compared to her younger brother!) and is particularly mature for her age. Sloanie and I have always been very close but it seems as though our already strong bond continues to increase as she gets older. I try to find time for daddy/daughter opportunities as often as possible although I'm sure not as often as either of us would like. One of our favorite games is to come up with the most disgusting sandwich ever and believe me, we've come up with some doozies. Although on Sunday's we change the game slightly and talk about our favorite things about Jesus. I'm continually amazed and how spiritually insightful she is and how deeply she thinks about spiritual things even at a young age. Each night I give her a 'bus ride' to her bed where she and I kneel down and say a prayer together. Her prayers are so precious and spiritually mature for her age. She's had a great love for the Savior even before she could speak.

Sloane does very well in school, in fact she was the student of the month in October. What I find especially impressive however is her attention to detail and her love of homework (sounds just like me, right Mom & Dad?) She's actually sad when she finishes her homework and is downright upset if her teacher doesn't assign homework on a given day. Believe me, neither Krissy or I were like that and we have no idea where she acquired/inherited this strange behavior (Grandpa Gibson maybe?).

One attribute Sloanie did inherit from Krissy is her desire to be kind to everyone regardless of differences. She goes out of her way to befriend kids who are new, shy or different. I was NOT this way as a child (although I'd like to think I've made some progress as I've gotten older) so I'm very thankful Sloane takes after Krissy in this regard. A couple of nights ago Sloane and I had a good daddy/daughter talk and I told her how much I love her and how special she is to me. I told her for the very first time about a spiritual experience I had as a teenager. Of course I won't go into specifics but I knew from that time forward that my first child would be a girl. Sloanie got a bit teary when I told her about my experience and I think she knows her daddy loves her.

Obviously we love our little girl very much and are grateful for the privilege we have to be her parents.

Check out this Website

http://www.eyeslipsface.com/ my mother in law sent me this website. Nordstrom is changing the look of all their cosmetics and everything is on sale for a $1.00. I went and ordered some stuff that would of cost me close to a 100 dollars and got it for 15. This is no joke. I promise you. Show your hubbies, maybe they can get ya some stuff for Christmas. I gave Chris a list. But they would have to move quickly I think before it is all gone.

Halloween Pics

we currently do not have a digital camera. These picks were taken with Chris' cell phone. Holden is a little blurry. My friend has a good pic of him and when I get it I will post it. Holden loved trick or treating. He was kinda slow so we came back home and got the stroller. Then Chris took him back out. At first he didn't want to go but then learned what to do and loved it. Sloane hung out with her friend Brigitta(sp?) and came home at 8:30. We were pretty much kidless all night and then we let the boys have a couple friends stay the night. All in all it was a fun night and I was in bed by 9:30.

I told chandler he is in charge of carving the pumpkins every year since he is the only one that enjoys doing it

Sloane makes a pretty pirate. We were not going to do pumpkins this year but then I got puppy eyes from Sloane and Chandler and at 4pm yesterday I was able to find 2 pumpkins. Chris drew the faces, Sloane cleaned them out and Chandler carved out the faces. I didn't even have to do much.

Tevin wasn't going to dress up. He was just going to be a teenager. He then ended up being a ghost and went out with friends to a haunted house. Let me remind you tevin is terrified of haunted houses. To go to this corpse nightmare it cost 10 dollars. Tevin paid got to the front and then chickened out. He was mad at himself and so we let him go again. Paid another 10 dollars and finally did it. He was freaked out, but we are proud of him that he made it through. Next year we will have to try and get the other boys to do it.

Our civil war hero. He looked so good. He already has a school teacher who would love to have his costume when he is done with it cause she teaches 7th grade as well as the civil war and would love to display the costume when she teaches it.

This is Harrison's last year as santa. His pants are getting too tight and his arms are too long. But he sure has used this costume to its fullest. 3 years in a row he was been santa