TJ's New Bed

Russ has been working on this bed for a couple of months now. The first stages were awesome, cutting out the wood and prepping it. I learned how to measure and use the cut-off saw pretty good with this project. Then Russ told me to sand it and paint it. I got busy sanding it, but ended up quitting because the sand paper kept coming off the dang machine. I told Russ he'd have to finish painting it too, because I was just done. So, about 3 weeks ago, Russ had TJ help him paint the wood pieces red, and boy did TJ enjoy that! He's been wanting to paint something for months now, he didn't care what, as long as he could use the paint brush!

















Russ also put in these headlights. I know that Lightning McQueen does not have these in the movie, but TJ really wanted a night light, and so Russ came up with this idea. The light isn't bright, so it's prefect at night.

Then came the detail painting, Russ free handed everything in pencil first, then used a spray paint machiney thing (ha, don't tell him I called it that!) and just went to town. He wouldn't let me help him, other than holding up the wood pieces so he wouldn't have to bend over too long. He even had to fire me from that because I was too wiggly. But, now it's done, and when TJ came in to see the finished product, he kept saying over and over "Dish ish sho cool!" I think he likes it.

Poor Sandi

This last week, Russ left us to go to Zions with some of the Priests in our ward. (He's the Young Men's Pres. again) and while he was gone, Jurnee had her 10th birthday which I was brave enough to throw for her and 12 other screaming girls. It was fun, and Jurnee had fun, even though dad wasn't there. So, that made it worth while. But, in the mean time, Sandi decided to get sick. She started Thursday morning feeling really dizzy, and had a bad headache. So, after taking a bath, the dizziness went away, but the headache remained. It just got worse from there. She got a fever that spiked to 102 in less than an hour, and then had that the rest of the day. Thursday night, she started throwing up, and the dizziness and headache returned. Every time I gave her medicine for the fever and headache, she'd throw it right back up. At 1:00 in the morning, her fever was at 103.3, and then I was starting to get worried. So, I gave her more medicine which she promptly eradicated from her belly, after which I gave her some more, and then she slept pretty good the rest of the night. In the morning, she thought she was feeling better, but her temperature was still pretty high. I finally got her in to see the doctor at 4:30 in the afternoon, and the doctor did some tests, and come to find out, she has Strep throat. He said that explains everything, even the dizziness. So, I picked her up some Amoxicillan, and gave it to her Friday night and all day Saturday. Well, this morning, she woke up with a headache again, and a rash all over her body. The poor thing just needed one more trial. So, now she can't have the Amoxicillan and her fever got high again, clear up to 103.9. And she is our little girl who, when she prays, asks that nobody has to get sick. Today, she prayed for that again, and then added, "even myself". TJ was pretty funny about it all. He was wondering what the medicine was for, and I told her that it was to kill the bugs in Sandi's body. He looked at me, and crinkled up his face, and asked me "Are dey tinkbugz?" Hopefully though, Sandi will be better tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed.

Big "Little" Brother

So, today after Jurnee and Millene got home from school, and after doing her chores, Sandi asked me if she could go play with a friend down the street. I said yes, and so she left the house. Shortly after she stepped outside she came right back inside. There were two boys riding their bikes in the road and on the sidewalk, who constantly give her grief. She really didn't want to walk by them and have them taunt her, so she was going to wait inside until Jurnee or Millene could take her. She ended up going down the other street, taking the long way around, but before she did, TJ went to the door to look out at those two boys. He then turned to me and said "I will walk by Tandi and if dey tay tometing, den I will top dem!" He was so brave, knowing that Sandi was a little scared, and so he was going to take matters into his own hands!

Happy Mother's Day!

Well, this morning my husband let me sleep in, and he and the kids, all 5 of them made me breakfast. They then brought it to me in bed while singing. Then Russ let all the kids bring their plate of food upstairs so we could all eat together. That is a rare treat for them to eat anywhere but the kitchen table, so they were loving it. And with only one tiny orange juice spill, it was really fun. Then I got my presents. Russ gave me a giant cork board to put my children's pictures on so my fridge isn't so crowded all the time. Every year Russ makes me a necklace, and this year he added to it by making a bracelet to go with it. I wore them to church, and like them enough to wear them everywhere. At church my ward has a tradition for Mother's Day, in the last hour, all the men teach all the primary classes, and the women get to go to the gym and eat pie that the men provided, and mingle. It was really neat to see the Bishop walking around with a garbage can serving us women. How grateful I am to have been lucky enough to move into a ward where the men really respect womanhood and mothers. And they teach their young men to respect women with their own examples. All in all, I think this will be one of my most memorable Mother's Days.

TJ asleep on the stairs

What else can I say but "how in the world do kids sleep in the places they sleep!?"

Eating Cake!

I had to have a blog devoted to Elayna's cake eating abilities. It was great fun to watch her eat her Birthday cake. So, sorry that this is my 3rd blog for today, but I had to do this one more.
First of all, I gave Elayna a piece of her cake on a plate, and the first thing she does is pick up the plate and drop the cake on the floor. So, I gave it back to her then she went to town on it!

After you eat a lot of cake, aren't you thirsty?

TJ and Elayna's Birthdays Part 2

Now it's Elayna's turn. She is the cutest little thing ever! I know all moms think that about their kids, but I believe it to be a true fact about Elayna. She is growing up so quickly. She is now walking like a pro, she has 5 teeth, of which her 2 bottom teeth came in first, then the 2 right beside the front 2. She looked like a Vampire for a good long time before her right front tooth popped through, now she looks like a Jack-O-Lantern!




She got a baby doll for her birthday, and loves it a ton! She carries it all over the place, but drops it all the time because it's too heavy for her.She had to kiss it all the time, you know the baby kind of kisses? Open mouthed wet ones?