Spring Break

Day 1:
In the interest of keeping myself sane during Spring Break, I decided to tackle one major project a day and do at least one fun thing with the kids. So, the project of the day was to clean out and organize the hall closet. We were successful! We threw out 2 grocery bags of junk and have a neat, clean closet that will last for at least a day. ;) (See Mom, I *can* tidy up!)

For our fun thing, I picked something out of the latest Family Fun magazine. We cut pictures out of a magazine and glued them onto cardstock. Then we shuffled the cards and told a story with the picture. The kids didn't know what we were going to do with the cards when we finished, so they got a lot of interesting pictures and told good stories. Even Eldon enjoyed it, because he begged to tell more stories, but at the same time telling me it wasn't any fun. I think he's trying to grow up and pretend he's not interested in what we're doing, but he really is. Oh boy, we're starting to grow up! P.S. Later that night, I heard Eldon telling James about the incredibly fun thing he did making story cards. :)

Day 2:
Laundry Day! Eldon went to his friend's house to play for the day, and we had some friends come over to our house to play. It was a lot of fun.

Day 3:
Eldon went to the IMAX with his friend to see Planet Earth. They also donated some used books in celebration of Earth Day. I went to the first class of a cake class. Lots of fun! My tulips are huge! I took a picture of this one that I picked. It opened up as big as my hand.

Day 4:
What a day. Erica had an MRI, so a wonderful lady in our ward came over at 6:30AM (see, told you she was wonderful) to stay with the kids (side note - and there were many others that would have done it if their schedules had allowed. Such great people around!) Went to CCMC, and Erica yelled at every nurse that tried to talk to her because she did *not* want to get an IV. It was finally our turn (about 8:30) took her into the MRI room where they put the gas mask on her to knock her out. It worked. After the MRI it took her a while to wake up. Drank some ginger ale and pulled out of sedation. When she was ready to go, she tried to sit up and flopped right over to the other side. We put her in her wheelchair and she was ready to go (about 11:00). But she was floppy and loooooooopy! We went to go see the neurosurgeon and the nurse kept asking her how many martinis she'd had. She was silly and giggly and just plain loopy.
The doctor said, yes, she has a tethered cord, but let's check the shunt first before doing an invasive tethered cord surgery. So the wonderful nurse get a CT scan for us that day, we head downstairs for a quick lunch to eat while we waited in the waiting room for our appointment. Erica got pizza, and I cut it up into bite size pieces and put it in a cup so she could hold on to it easier while we waited. She thought it was hilarious to eat pizza out of a cup. Score one for the mom!
Erica was very good and still during the CT scan. Then we were free to come home (about 1:30). Thanked my friend profusely for babysitting, and played with the kids for a while. Zachary went down for a nap, put a movie on for the kids, then *I* went down for a nap. Nice...
Woke up about 3:45 to my cell phone ringing in my pocket. It's the nurse telling me that Erica's ventricles are indeed enlarged and she will need shunt surgery. On Tuesday. This Tuesday. Oh boy. Call James and let him know, then start making dinner.
Eat waffles for dinner. So fast, so easy, and the kids *love* it. James came home from work, I left to go grocery shopping (no, even I can't take 4 kids grocery shopping), came home so James could leave to give a ride to someone. Put the kids to bed and crash on the computer. What a day! I'm done now.

Day 5:
Beautiful day! We took a walk after dinner to enjoy the day. Eldon cooked dinner (spaghetti and garlic bread) for one of his cub scout requirements. He did a great job. He even did the dishes, too. Our one chore/one fun thing a day thing never really panned out, but oh well!

Recent Happenings

I keep thinking I should blog about NY and Easter.  But I feel like I don't have anything interesting to say.  But I suppose I'll do it anyway to get it off my mind.

First, we had a lot family here for Eldon's baptism.  12 of us in the house and lots of fun.  That's what prompted the whole NY trip.  I'm glad we did it.

NYC

Day 1: Drove to New Jersey where our hotel was.  We only got lost once, but quickly found our way via a shady left turn.  No cops around, no accidents, all is well.  Settled into the hotel, went for a quick swim with the kids, and then took the bus into NY to go see Guys and Dolls at a Broadway Theater.  The bus took longer than we expected, so we got into the theater, said, "Whew, we made it," sat down, and the show began.  Literally.  Good show, a bit different than the high school production, in that when high school students perform a burlesque show, it's a bit tamer than Broadway performing a burlesque show.  Imagine that.  Then we walked around NYC for a bit until we caught a bus home.  We didn't stop anywhere for dinner, so we got something at a restaurant in the bus depot.  James - "I came all the way to NY to eat bus station pizza."

Day 2: Drove to Liberty Park to catch a ferry for Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.  Saw both.  A bit cold, but good times.  Perk: Having a daughter in a wheelchair moves you up to the front of all the lines.

Day 3: Went swimming with the kids, packed, and drove home.

It was a short trip, but a good one, because now I've been to NY, and I didn't even get mugged or pick-pocketed. ;)

Easter

Saturday morning we had a ward breakfast and Easter egg hunt.  Then we colored eggs at home.  I tried a new Easter egg dye that was at Aldi's.  You paint on the eggs instead of dying them, so you can do more things with it.  Good concept, bad reality.  One, the paint never really dried, it's *still* very sticky.  Two, 3 three kids & 1 paint pallet.  That's all I'm saying.  But they had fun and liked the new way of painting.  They were so sticky that we decided to hide the plastic Easter eggs rather than risk getting sticky goo all over our house.

I made the girls some skirts for Easter.  I got the inspiration from ChristyNelson.net and the directions from Kuky Ideas.  Friday night, while Erica was sleeping, I tried hers on and decided it was too short, so I had to add another layer.  I don't like the four layers, but it had to be done.  When I tried them on Sunday morning, Jessie's about fell off her itsy bitsy hips.  So we got out the safety pins, and they worked fine.

Dinner was the traditional ham (although it was actually leftover from when the family was visiting), potatoes, corn, breadsticks, and Easter bunny blueberry pie.  What, you don't have Easter bunny blueberry pie for Easter?  Neither do we, usually, but it sounded good and it was De.Lish.Us!

My favorite Easter thing: Eldon took me aside as I was going to the store and said, "Mom, since you and Dad are the Easter Bunny, maybe while you're at the store you can get some candy to put in the plastic Easter eggs we got at the ward Easter egg hunt."  Thanks, Eldon.  It's a good thing you're here to help out your completely incompetent parents.

Scouts

Eldon's officially a Cub Scout now.  He earned his Bobcat award last night at the Blue and Gold.  He had to memorize 7 things to earned it, and he did it in two nights.  We're so proud of him!

A use for formula cans

A few weeks ago, I noticed I was throwing a lot of Enfamil cans away. Zachary goes through about 3 a week, and I thought there was something I could be doing with them. I asked a very crafty friend to come up with a solution. She agreed, but in the meantime I had a flash of inspiration. You see, my children have several toys that consist of itty bitty parts, toys that came in boxes that have long since graced the local landfill and are either scattered about or put into plastic sandwich bags. I'm not a fan of the baggies, because it's hard to find them. The worst are the puzzles, because you can't see what puzzle you're making.

So, I decided to use my Enfamil cans to solve this problem.

First, I assembled the puzzles and took a picture of them to put on the can. I actually put the picture of the puzzle on the can lid. I figure it's easier to throw the puzzle/toys into the nearest can, and then find the matching lid.

Then I rinsed out my formula cans. I didn't wash and scrub, because they are made of cardboard, and I wasn't sure how much water they could actually take without disintegrating.

Got my contact paper. Not beautiful, but what I had on hand.

Measured and cut the contact paper, then wrapped it around the can. That's one good thing about these cans - they don't taper, making it easier to put the contact paper on straight. (Notice I said easier, not easy.)

Gave scraps to my helper.

Put the puzzle pieces in the can.

Voila!

I also like the fact that they're stackable.

Ok, so it's not rocket science, but hopefully, within a few weeks, I'll be able to have the kids' toys a bit more organized. Now, if only I could convince them to keep it that way....

My funny girl

Jessica has a hard time staying in bed. She goes down fine for naps, but at night she *will NOT* stay in her bed. Regardless of if she had a nap that day or not. We put her down about 8:00 and it's usually about 9:30 or 10:00 that she finally stays.
So lately I've been trying to ignore her while we work in the basement or whatever and see if she gets bored and goes to bed. It works for Erica, but it doesn't work for Jessie. She's too easily entertained.
Another thing she's been doing lately is taking of her PJ top. So when we came upstairs the other day from working in the basement, this is what we found. Jess with no shirt on laying in the middle of the hallway, fast asleep. Silly girl.

Today I asked her to take a soda bottle outside to the recycling bin. She didn't want to put her shoes on. It's cold, but I figured for just going a few feet down the ramp to the bin she really didn't need them. I wouldn't put my shoes on for the trip. So she went outside, ran down to the bottom of the ramp, then ran back up and declared it was cold and she needed shoes. Nevermind that she had been right next to the bin. Then she put on one of her shoes and one of her dad's shoes and finished her job. She's a silly one.

But I Can't Wait Until I'm 8...

Yesterday was Eldon's birthday. He's finally 8. He was super excited to get his own set of scriptures and a journal. He's been designing his own cake for a month or so. Usually I hear about it all year long, but about a month ago he drew it out for me and stuck with a design. I added the "Happy Birthday Eldon". He was not happy with me, "because it doesn't leave room for the figures!" We figured it out.











In other news, Erica has started reading books. She's been able to read smaller words for a while, but today she seemed to realize that meant she could open a book and read it to herself if she wanted to. She read "Go, Dog, Go" by P.D. Eastman to Jessica today, only asking for help on 2 words. She started reading "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back", but had a bit more trouble with it. We're really proud of her!


Thursday we had Enrichment. The theme was "All in the Bag". We went through a list of things that could be in our purse, and got a bean if we had it. The person with the most beans won a prize, as did the person with the least, the biggest bag, the smallest bag, the most change, and the strangest item. (I won that one for having a catheter in my purse). I made two purse cakes to go along with the theme. It was a lot of fun.

Friday the 13th

I'm not a superstitious gal, but this Friday the 13th was not one to be messed with. It all started in the wee hours of the morning (about 12:30AM), when Jessie got up. 3 times. Then Erica. 2 times. On a night when I finally went to bed early to get some sleep. So much for that.

Then I overslept. Which is sad that 6:30 is oversleeping. But my dear, darling Erica got suspended from the bus for 3 days because of safety violations, so I had to get up and get *everyone* ready by 7:45, not just the two kids. Which means I should have been up at 6:00 to feed Zachary. No big deal, just skip the shower for now and feed Zach.

While trying to get Eldon out of bed, he complained that his stomach hurt. Now, my son is not. a. morning. person. Like his mother x 10. AND he's a certified hypochondriac. So he often complains that he can't get out of bed in the morning because he doesn't feel good. So, the rule is that he has to get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, and then we'll see how he feels. 99 times out of 100, by the time we get to breakfast, I don't hear another complaint. That, of course, leaves the 1 time out of 100 where there is a problem. Which would be this time. I discovered that it was real as he threw up on the couch and down the hallway on his way to the bathroom. Great. James and I have a theory that Eldon sometimes convinces himself that he's sick and throws up, because he'll throw up in the morning and be perfectly fine by noon. But, real or imagined, the outcome is very, very real. So, clean up the mess, tell son to go to bed.

Call the school to say he's sick. Erica has a dr. appt at 9:00, so tell the school she'll just be late, so we can slow down a little because we don't have to go anywhere for another hour. Ok, start getting dinner ready and clean up the kitchen a bit. Because, oh yes, not only is this a typical bad day, I also have a cake to make, missionaries coming over for dinner, and a cheesecake to make to take to our friends' celebration of pi day.

So, a little after 8:00, I go into Eldon's room to tell him that we need to leave in a bit to take Erica to the doctor (just her 6-year checkup). He was throwing up when I went in, and threw up while I was in there. Great. How can I take him with me? I can't. So I call the doctor to cancel. Do I know there's a cancellation fee? Yes, but my son's throwing up so we can't come in. Luckily, they'll see if they can waive the fee for that.

Next, it's time to take Erica to school. Since Eldon can't get out of bed, we can't walk to school. Get all the coats on, load up the kids in the van. Rrrrrrrr. Rrrrrrrr. That's the sound my van makes. Jessica (AGAIN) has left an interior light on. We go back inside, and Erica throws a fit. She does not adjust well to change, and especially to change that she doesn't like. So after lots of tears, I call James to see if he can come jump me. Thankfully, he has a break in meetings and can jump me. Load up the kids again, take Erica to school, and come back home.

Bake the cake. Tried some new options to try and not have a domed top. Didn't work. Oh well, lots of yummy scraps for us! Get a start on making my fondant bow -- loops for the bow and curly-Qs to put around it. My idea for the bow came from thinking, "What would my mother's bow look like?" Because she's the awesomest bow-maker in the world. The colors are lime green and bright orange, and they turn out great. Pu the crumb coat on the cake, let it rest. Icing's kind of sticky, but it works ok for a crumb coat.

By the way, what's the squiggly blue line on the carpet? Right where Eldon threw up...possibly the Resolve reacted with it? Great.

Eat lunch, James agrees the icing's too stiff, so I thin it out, and it spreads much better. Ice the cake. A bit messy, but I can smooth it down when it settles, no problem.

Problem. Icing does NOT smooth down. Instead, it wrinkles. Badly. Like an 80-year old man that's spent too much time in the sun. Very badly. It looks awful! What to do, what to do. Because, did I mention, I'm getting *paid* for this cake. So it *has* to look good. I flip through my cake book and decide to put a chocolate buttercream coating over the chocolate fudge icing. Doesn't taste as good, but it's just a thin coat, so it should be fine. Make the icing, spread it, wait, smooth it out. We're good.

The rest of the afternoon goes relatively normal. Chaotic, but normal. Eldon's fine by now, eats 4 bowls of Cheerios, and wants to walk to school to pick Erica up (thank goodness! Loading and unloading the wheelchair and stroller is a lot of work!). Get home, do the normal afternoon stuff, and finish up on dinner. Make the decorations for the cake. A lot of work going on, a bit stressful, but everything's falling into place. James comes home at 5:30 and helps finish dinner.

The missionaries come over. Elder Shelley laughs at Jessica because she's being super-hyper. Last time he came, she wouldn't say a word, so it's quite the change. She told me before they came that she was going to talk to the missionaries this time. She kept her word!

Missionaries leave, children get ready for bed, and get sacked. (lots of getting out of bed and re-sacking, but that's typical.)

For date night, we decide to make the cheesecake for date night. Strawberry cheesecake. Yum. With pi and it's numerical estimation written on it. Clever, eh? I'm so smart. Yep.

It all goes pretty well until we get to the actual writing on the cheesecake. The recipe has dollops of strawberry puree on the top, so we decide to use this to write pi. We put it in a decorating bag. Tip 2, too small. Tip 3, dripping out like crazy. So we thicken it up a bit. Then a bit more. Then a bit more. Then some more. It's still kind of drippy, but it'll work. We write it in and bake it. While it's baking, we work on the cake.


Apparently, fondant gets really hard and non-pliable after sitting out all day. Which is good for keeping a bow in shape. Which is not good for curly-q ribbons that are supposed to drape. So we try wetting them down. Nope, doesn't work. But if you wet them down enough, you can get them back to play-doey form and make them again. So we made them again and stuck them on the cake. Ta-da! We're done. Put the cover on the cake and go to bed.


Oh no, the cover smooshed the bow, it cracked and broke. Time for stress. I still have some more orange fondant left, so I work on making a new bow. Wishing strongly for my mother who is the awesomest bow maker in the world. But I try and remember what I've seen, and make a decent-looking bow. Let it dry so it will stay bow-shaped. Position the cake on the cake holder so it *won't* smoosh the bow. Go to bed. It's midnight, after all. (Never did make it to the shower...)


Wake up in the morning. (yes, I know it's not Friday the 13th anymore, but it's still part of my story) The bow? It sagged overnight. Get on cakecentral FAST. Other user's advice? Make a new one. I have just enough scraps left over to make a new one. Put it on just before my friend comes to pick it up and PRAY that it lasts until the party. (Did it? If you're reading this, let me know!)

Oh, and my son decided to move some of the circles. Argh! But beyond the fact that he was touching the cake when he wasn't supposed to, there was no major damage done. My friend that came to pick up the cake asked me how long I'd been doing cakes. I told her it was a new hobby and it was a lot of fun. She asked me if it was frustrating sometimes, and I just laughed. Yep. But it is fun, and I love doing it.
In other news:

Basement's mostly done. Hooray! Now it's time to start moving stuff into it. You can't really tell from the picture, but the walls are painted, the trim is up and painted. It's ready for fun.

Yesterday, when we were coming home from school, Erica was telling Jessica to go farther than she was supposed to. Eldon was telling her no, stay where she was. They kept going back and forth. It reminded me of the angel/devil scenario you see on cartoons. (Jessica obeyed and stayed close.)

And here are some cute photos of Zachary. Jessica likes to snuggle up next to him and pretend they're sleeping. Unfortunately, he gets squished in the process. But he's pretty tolerant of it.




Sorry for the long post (somewhat). It was a long day.