Give Peas a Chance! - part II

Recently, I posted about Andyn and her pea fetish: Give Peas a Chance! Interestingly enough, she did it again! Actually, the day after the first incident I gave her some of the leftover peas and thought I had kept a good eye on her - making sure the peas went into her mouth and not into her nose. Well, I didn't keep a good enough eye on her because today (3 DAYS LATER!) she started fussing and rubbing her nose. I held her down and tried to look into her nose with a flashlight. She was thrashing so much that I couldn't be positive that there was anything in there but when Geoff got home I had him look. He wasn't sure either so he tried his mouth blowing trick to no avail. I was still pretty sure that I saw a hint of green so we agreed that we should probably take her to the E.R. Geoff (always the teacher) thought it would fun and educational for Aspen & Ainsley to go too. Not really my idea of the perfect field trip but hey... whatever. He called me an hour later asking if I wanted to come get them. "No way, man! Good luck with that!" Actually, I told him I would if he really wanted me to but he said that he thought he could handle it. 2 1/2 hours from the time they left the house they came home hungry, tired, and minus 2 more peas out of Andyn's right nostril! TWO PEAS! THREE DAYS! That had to be uncomfortable! For now, peas are off limits! I won't even tell you about the cat food she's been eating off the back porch!

Just Some Random Tips

I thought I would just share a couple of tips or ideas with this blogging thing. Not that I'm any kind of expert but because I've had so many people ask these kind of questions.

#1 How to subscribe to a blog (or set up for other people to subscribe to your blog)

I used to use Blogarithim but I noticed that it was taking a really long time to get the email updates when someone had updated their blog so I changed to Feed Burner. You'll see the small box down on the right hand side of my blog where you can just plug in your email address and it will automatically email you when I update. If you want one for your blog just go to their website and fill out your info. They will you give you the code that you need to copy and paste into a Page Element (use the HTML element) on your layout. Another great reason to use this - I plugged in my own email address to MY feed burner and it emails me when I have updated my own blog. I like this because it sends me the post in a very nifty print friendly format. I can print the posts and have a hard copy of my work! Blogger also has a way of doing this also but I don't like the email format as well.

If you just don't want to mess with plugging your address into the little box you can scroll to the bottom of the page and you'll see this: Subscribe to: Posts (Atom). Clicking on this will add any blog to your 'reader'. I use Google reader as well as many of you. Google reader is a program that you can put on your Google homepage and it will bring up the posts that have just been posted and you can read them from there. You don't even have to go to the blog.

#2 Search my blog If you're trying to find something on a Blogspot blog there is a search box at the very top left hand corner of the blog (on the navbar). This search box only searches the blog that you're looking at. Type in your search words and you will find what you're looking for.

#3 Mess with layouts If there is anything you want to know about layouts for Blogger then Blogger Buster is the place for you. This lady has helped do EVERYTHING that I couldn't figure out on my own! She also has a ton of templates if you are wanting to change yours up a bit.

#4 Email updates on comments When you leave a comment on somebody's blog the box should look something like this:

You can publish your comment using your google account or it gives you a few other options but I would like to draw your attention to the little box with this phrase next to it: Email follow-up comments to .... This is a VERY handy tool. When someone posts a comment on my blog and maybe they have asked me a question in that post (or they've said something that I want to respond to) I can just leave another comment there on that post and IF they have checked this box they will get the comment that I just left in their email! This is very handy, people!! It means that I don't have to create a whole new email and try to respond or if it is something that many people are asking then I only have to answer it once! Whenever I leave a comment on other people's blogs I ALWAYS check this box because I want to see what other people have commented also! You can do this too - come out of your comfortable little box and live a little!!

#5 Word verification This next one is actually just kind of a pet-peeve of mine that I'm hoping I can convince many of you to take it off of your blogs! Do you see under the comment box those squiggly blue letters? This is an option on your settings to have word verification set. Definition by blogger: "This option (off by default) gives bloggers a tool to prevent the automatic creation of comments by nefarious ne'er-do-wells (e.g. spammers)". My philosophy: Don't use it till you need it! If you happen to have spam comments bugging you then by all means use it but I've been blogging for almost a year and have never had a problem. Sometimes I will chose not to leave a comment because I hate filling out the word verification thingy! If you're not sure whether yours is set-up to do this, for the love of everything chocolate could you please just check your settings and remove it if you're so inclined. Thank you! :)

#6 Picasa for blogging If you don't know about Picasa you are really missing out! Picasa is free photo organizing software from Google and you can use it to do some basic photo editing. It's REALLY nice! You can use it to create the really cool picture collages that you have seen on my blog, too. When you download it it will automatically organize all your photos by date. If you're interested you can click here: Picasa.

#7 Email notifications Under your blog settings there is a tab for 'EMAIL' if you go to this section there is something called "BlogSend Address". Blogger just recently set this up so that you could insert up to 10 email addresses of people you would like to get your blog posts as soon as you post them. It used to be that you could only insert one address. So... If you have a Great-Aunt Myrtle who really wants to read your posts but can't figure out the stinkin' subscribe box, you can add her address and she'll get them automatically! Fun, huh? (This is also a good way to get your own posts emailed to you for printing as mentioned in Tip #1)

So, there you have it some of my great tips for blogger! Stop snoring!

Tonsillectomy, Adenoidectomy, Ear Tube Placement... Oh My!

It might be an understatement to say that it's been a little crazy around here! On Tuesday Asher and Andyn both had outpatient surgery. Asher had his tonsils and adenoids removed and Andyn had her adenoids removed plus tubes put in her ears! Back to back on the same day. When the doctor scheduled it this way I thought it would be fine because we would just get it all over with at once. I still feel that way but it has been a little crazy! This is a picture of Asher right before they took him into the O.R.

I didn't snap one of Andyn because, truthfully, I was bawling. I think I snapped this photo to take my mind off of them leaving me. We had thoroughly prepared Asher. He knew exactly what was going to happen. Unfortunately, we left out the part that we wouldn't be going in with him. As they wheeled him away he looked up at me with kinda sad eyes and asked "aren't you going with me, Mom?". Crap! "No, baby, the doctors will take really good care of you and there's no reason to be afraid." He leaves perfectly fine... I dissolved into tears.

Now, they were both out of it when they brought them to us in recovery. It was a little heartbreaking. After a few hours of being home I think the morphine had wore off. Or maybe it was just really kicking in! This is what he was doing:

It has been a little touch and go some moments but overall Asher has done really well. Andyn was really miserable the whole first day and half of the next but she's pretty much back to her shinanagins today! (previous post)

One last note, Asher woke up in a panic the first morning after his surgery because his throat hurt so bad and Geoff got up rather quickly to get him some of his pain medication. I had gotten up to get the baby when I heard Geoff calmly say my name from the bathroom (where he was trying to get Asher to take his meds). I ran in there and basically... long story, short... Geoff passed out. I won't go into details so I won't embarrass Geoff but I had no idea what was happening and it scared me to death! Geoff is very healthy and rarely gets sick. For him to have such an episode was very uncharacteristic. This experience caused me to take inventory of a few things. Primarily, my love for my husband. I love you, Geoff. You're so good to me and I would be lost without you.

Give Peas a Chance!

Andyn LOVES peas (and pancakes):

She REALLY loves peas:

No, really, she LOVES them:

Seriously, no joke, she could eat them all day:

Or just stick them in her ear!

So, you think that was funny.... She was given peas again tonight for dinner. After dinner she was sitting on Geoff's lap and sneezed a pea out of her nose! We had no idea she had stuck one up her nose. Actually, after further inspection, it looked as if she had stuck more than one up her nose. I tried to get the second one out with a nose aspirator to no avail. What happened next was incredible. I wish so bad I had videoed it! We laid her on the couch and while I held her hands away from her face Geoff closed one of her nostrils with his finger and then gently blew into her mouth and two more peas flew out of the other nostril!! It was the funniest thing I've seen in a while!! He told me we could recreate it for a video but something tells me that we're going to get another opportunity! We're going to have to start counting the peas we give her so we'll know when she puts them into an orifice!

This reminds me of my earlier post of Asher doing something similar!

St. Patty's

Every year for St. Patrick's Day we (along with just about everybody else I know) color the food that we eat for dinner. I know not very original but the kids REALLY love this!! So here are some pics of the eggs, pancakes, and milk that we had for dinner!

Looks pretty disgusting but always turns out really fun!

After dinner we had Family Home Evening. Aspen did the lesson and the activity. She read the story of Samuel the Lamanite from the Book of Mormon how he stood on the wall preaching about the birth and death of Jesus Christ and that the people threw stones and shot arrows at him but could not knock him down. While she read the story we all got to throw pinto beans at Samuel (aka: army man) as he stood on the wall of rice krispie treats (green of course)! The kids loved it! Things got a little out of hand when Geoff started throwing the beans at ME! I captured it on video. The video was a little long so I split it in two. I won't be offended if you don't watch the whole thing... actually I'll never know! But it's REALLY funny at the end.

And the Winner is....

My friend Cindi just posted a "guess this" picture on her blog today and I'm having fun trying to figure out what it is! Well, she reminded me that I have yet to post the answers to my two posts that were "guess this" type posts: Miniature toothpastes in my purse and doohicky in the hotel. So here ya go!

The little tubes of toothpaste came from an Enrichment Meeting at church. The lesson was on food storage and the lady teaching it had this big box of these and told us we could have as many as we wanted. I jokingly grabbed a huge handful in front of my friend Nancy and then put them back. When I got home I found all of these jammed into my purse! Thanks, Nancy!

This 'doohicky' is to flush the toilet. It's sitting right above the toilet on a ledge in the bathroom! And actually my friend Arlene got it right after I forced her and her husband to sit down at my computer and read my Mexico posts (the creeps don't read my blog... the nerve)! But since she didn't put in an official comment on the post she gets..... NOTHING! :) Unfortunately, no clear winners so here's some love to you all!!!

Family Portrait - Again

Something happened and my picture disappeared so here I have it and I played around with it a little!!

Family Portraits

We ususally have our family pics taken on Valentine's Day each year but this year it got away from us! The girls' school had a family portrait night and we took advantage! A local photography studio (Granger) did it and I thought they turned out really good!

Splashing Queen

Andyn absolutely loves taking a bath! She gets so crazy when she splashes! Here's a really cute video:

This is a snapshot of the same experience. I actually thought this could also serve the purpose of showing you how beautiful my tub is! Gold. Isn't it lovely! Well, soon to be no more. I'm refinishing it this week. Geoff took all the tile down yesterday! Wish me luck!

Surprise! Andyn Butt Shot

So, I debated whether or not to post this. But since I have my blog settings set so that people cannot just search for things and 'land' at my blog I thought it was pretty safe. Plus it barely shows her buttocks! I found her like this after her nap the other day. We started using cloth diapers again and she figured out how to undo the Velcro! Sweet baby.

6.7.08 Edit: I added the flower to help it be a little more modest. And so I could, with good conscience, post it again.

It's a Date!

We have some friends that live in our neighborhood and their son Ty and my girls are always playing together (blondie on left). This night Ty and his parents invited Aspen and another friend - Mika - to go to the movies! Fun times! Aspen's first date.... just kidding! According to her, she is SO a tomboy!

Tricky. Tricky.

Ainsley is ALWAYS telling me, "Blog about, Mom! Blog about it!" So this one is for her!

Made the Front Page!

Saved to Draft Andyn and I made the front page of the paper about two weeks ago. I'm just now getting around to posting about it! We live in a small 'city' (I use the term loosely) but even so, it has to be a slow news day if I made it on the front page!

After school I took the kids over to the park. Andyn could not get enough of this slide! I love how the static made her wisps of hair stand up! Not very flattering photo of me but who cares!

Take a Bite Out of...

Lots of kids do this but I still think it's cute! Andyn did this the other day!

Frozen in Grand Central Station

Shelley posted this on her blog. Sooo cool! Just click this link: Frozen in Grand Central Station

Garage Sale Booty

I'm so glad that garage sale season is up a running around here! Another plus to living in the South! There really is only 3 or 4 months that garage saling takes a break. There are some who still go in the cold but I'm content NOT going! Last week I taught a class on frugality at church and one of the many things that I talked about was garage saling. I truly believe that one of the most important activities in a frugal lifestyle is garage saling. I have here a picture of my finds.

On this particular day I only spent $11.75. Some weekends I spend more, some weekends I spend less. I thought I might give you a run down of what I got and how much it cost. This may be boring to some of you - go ahead and skip it - I promise that I won't be offended! This is mainly for posterity anyway!

1. Plastic pitcher -25¢ . Andyn plays in our bottom cabinet and has destroyed all of our pitchers. They were all made of acrylic so they would bust when she would slam them on the tile floor! This one is made of plastic. Hopefully, we will have better luck with it!
2. Pizza Stone from Pampered Chef -$1. I LOVE when I find Pampered Chef stuff at garage sales!! Mainly because I can almost never afford to buy anything when I go to those parties! I was REALLY needing another pizza stone, too. We've been making a lot of homemade pizza lately!
3. Basketball -$1. Our brand new basketball was inadvertently switched with the neighbors' and they insist that it's theirs. The one we 'inherited' is always going flat so $1 was a good price for one that we may not be able to claim as our own forever!
4. Outdoor Light Timer Doo-Hickie - 75¢. I bought this so that next year at Christmas time we won't have to remember to turn off the Christmas lights outside!
5. What I Wish I'd Known When I Was Single by John Bytheway -50¢. Honestly, I bought this because it was written by a well known LDS author. I have some weird obsession with purchasing items at garage sales that are of LDS origin because I think it's fascinating that in the Bible Belt I can actually do that. Especially, in our little town because I pretty much know all the members at our ward! When I brought it home Geoff read it and said that it was really good and we should make our kids read it!
6. Golden Field Guides: Reptiles of North America -50¢. This book was brand new. I don't think anyone had read it. Why would they... gross. But strangely enough my daughter loves these little critters and I got it for her for her birthday. She's going to love it! (And I love the price!)
7. Brand New Sippie Cup -50¢. We're always needing these.
8. 9x9 Cake Pan -50¢. I only have 8x8. Everybody needs 9x9!
9. Mini Muffin Tins -50¢ each. I posted earlier about these yummy treats that I made for Valentine's Day. Well, you're suppose to have mini muffin tins to do it. I have some but you can never make enough of these buggers so I bought more!
10. 3 Outfits, 1 Sleeper, 2 Dresses, 4 tops (all size 24 months) -$4.25. I keep my older kids' clothes to hand down to siblings but sometimes it's fun to buy 'new' stuff and for $4.25 it's hard to turn away! These items were all in great condition with no holes, rips, or stains. The tops were all 25¢ each. The green shirt and shorts were 50¢ for the set and they were from Children's Place! The most expensive was the halter top outfit and it was $1. Amazing. I really don't know why more people don't garage sale.
11. 4 Pair of Shoes -$2. I know that a lot of people think that it's wrong to buy used shoes. Hogwash! These shoes were barely if ever worn. Clean as clean can be. I know many a people who grew up wearing hand me down or used shoes and NEVER had any feet problems. To say that wearing used shoes causes issues later in life is simply NOT scientifically founded. I found this really good article if you want to read it.

I promise not to recount to you all the good deals I get every week garage saling. I just want to give you a taste of the sweet life! :) So there you have it! Let the sales begin!

Mé-hee-ko... Parte Cinco-Our Last Day in Paradise

The night before we leave Geoff informs me that he is going to get up and watch the sunrise that last day we were in Mexico. I told him, "Have fun!" I personally wanted to catch as many Z's as I could because I knew the dream was over the next day! Back to 4 kids and nothing but craziness! Well, when he woke up at 5:30 AM I woke up too and couldn't go back to sleep... dang! So, I begrudgingly accompanied him to the beach!! Actually, I was kind of glad it worked out that way. It was a sight to behold! Absolutely beautiful! I've included some shots here that don't do the sunrise justice but better than nothing!

I thought I would also include a couple of videos that are pretty funny, too! You'll have to excuse the noisy wind!

This first one I was just taking in the scenery and when I panned over to Geoff he hacks a loogie and spits it! I just thought it was funny that I caught him!

The next one Geoff made me take. He thought it would be funny to act like he was on Bay Watch. I don't think he's ever even seen it! I'm pretty sure they don't look that retarded!

This last one is my favorite! I was messing around with the settings on my camera and noticed that it has a silent movie mode. With all the wind I thought this might work really good! Geoff decides to strike a yoga pose there at the end. What a goof ball!

We knew the party was over when we came home to this:

It snows MAYBE twice a year around here! It just HAD to snow THE day we come back! Man, I hate snow!

Mé-hee-ko... Parte Four

If any of you really know me and Geoff then you know that we love meeting new people. So, I have to tell you about the really fun, nice people that we met while we were there. First, I have to say that we weren't sure what to expect. This was a REALLY nice place where a lot of European people go to vacation. We weren't sure we were going to meet any really fun, nice people... but we did.

This family we met the 2nd night we were there when we went to eat at the Japanese Hibachi Restaurant there in the resort. Susan, her husband (his name I will TOTALLY screw up if I try to write it) and their son Tyler are all from Chicago. Soooo cute! Very nice! Tyler was a typical 2 yr old (except most 2yr olds don't prefer sushi to chicken nuggets) and was very active during the dinner. Most people who sat at our table were with kids so I don't think it really mattered! Of course, we didn't mind. We were just really glad it wasn't us! We found out that they were planning on eating there every night of their stay because Tyler preferred that type of food. So, we made arrangements to eat there again also. The food was great and the company was fun; not to mention the Hibachi chef (Javier) was hilarious!

This is a video of Javier showing off one of his MANY talents with his Hibachi tools. I wish I would have captured some others but I was a little self-conscience about pulling my camera out.

We met another couple on the excursion that turned out to be Mormon (they were from Ohio). What are the chances that 4 out of the ten people on that bus would have been Mormon. Crazy. They were lots of fun. Actually, Jenny and I talked a lot but I don't think I heard a single word come out of her husband's mouth on the whole trip. He seemed to open up a little more that night at dinner (they were staying at the same resort so we ate at the Japenese place with them). I hope they read this because I have some video of Jenny repelling but I don't think she would want me to post it. It's taken from below and focuses on her butt the whole time! I think her butt looks fine but you know how us women are!

In my previous post I talked about Greg and Michelle - one of the couples that we met on the excursion. They were so fun! We had a really great time getting to know them. They're from Ohio (it seemed like a lot of people we met were from Ohio) and they own a commercial/residential carpet cleaning company. We took several pictures of them because they had forgotten their camera so I thought I would post a few here!

This one I took of them at Tulum:

I took this next picture of them down by the water. It didn't come out that great but I HAD to post it because of the guy in the background with the speedo! So stinkin' funny!!

This next one is of Michelle being pushed off the tower when were zip-lining. That's what they did to us. They pushed us off the tower! I don't know how she didn't lose her sandals!

We weren't staying at the same resort as Greg and Michelle but we made arrangements to meet up with them the next day and go shopping in the local city: Playa de Carmen. We shared a cab. It was so fun (hanging out with them, not the cab)! In this photo we are eating some dinner at a little restaurant on the beach. We sat there for an hour or better just chatting it up. Come to find out they are Jehovah Witnesses! Of all things! Witnesses and Mormons hanging out! They were great! Good weather, good food, good conversation... nothing better!

I thought that I might add that on the way home in the cab I started chatting with the cabby. He asked how I knew Spanish and I told him that I had gone on a mission for my church and he instantly knew that I was Mormon! Actually, he started saying, "I no like the mormones!" This actually worried me slightly because his driving was already scaring the crap out of me and now he really wouldn't care if we lived or died! He said he had been to church there a few times. Since it's about a 20-30 minute drive I talked to him about the church the whole way back and it was great! It was like I was on my mission again! He was so sweet and I think he was kind of joking about not liking us. He just had issues with other cab drivers who went to church there but drank and did drugs. By the time we got back to the resort I had him convinced to give it another try. Man, I love the Mexican people! Good, good people!

This last photo is a picture of Geoff's hand. We've been married for 10 years and I never knew that he had a crooked finger. Notice his middle finger is slightly crooked. It's that way on both hands! Crazy! I guess when your busy with a ton of kiddos you don't notice things like that! The plate was just a back drop. We were eating dinner when made the discovery!

Mé-hee-ko... Parte Tres

The second part of our all day excursion included repelling into a cave-like... thing, zip-lining over the top of the jungle, and snorkeling in an underwater cave. I thought it was a great idea at the time we paid for it... I was feeling really adventurous. I'm embarrassed to say that I was the only one in our group that was scared out of my gourd! At least I was the only one who verbally showed it!!

Here are some photos of Geoff repelling off of the HUGE tower into the cave-like... thing. He was a natural. (Truthfully, he had done all of this stuff when he was a YMCA Camp Counselor.) He actually got to do it twice. Once was enough for me. It went against everything I thought reasonable to lean back off that tower with a luggage strap keeping me from falling to my death!!

Next item of self-inflicting torture was the zip-line. The others joked about pumas and leopards being able to jump and get ya as you are zipping by! That was the least of my worries. I was so afraid that I was going to pee my pants!

Here you have a beautiful photo of me hanging on for dear life:

The picture seems innocent enough. Nothing to be afraid of.... But what you can't see is the speed! On one of the lines we went almost 45 miles per hour! Unnatural I say... unnatural.

These next two photos show me after Jorge (names may have been altered to protect the innocent) literally "catches" me! He's smiling because he is so happy that I didn't knock his teeth out on the way in! You see, when you come into the tower you do so nearly full speed. They pretty much have to catch you! And if you lower your legs (which is a natural thing to do if you think you need to stop yourself) you will either knock out Jorge's teeth or break your legs!

Here we have a less than flattering video of me on the last line (the one that went the fastest)! After I come into the tower Pedro asks me to 'take one more step' (onto this platform thingy) that's when I said "I can't".

The next video is of Michelle (I'll write about her and her hubby Greg in the next post). She was way more graceful than I was!

We also went snorkeling in an underwater cave after the zip-line. Truthfully, it was nothing after what we just did. Not real exciting. When I get the underwater camera developed I will post those pics.

Mé-hee-ko... Parte Dos

The first day we were at the resort we just laid around by the beach and the pool and read and Geoff slept (I couldn't sleep... I HAD to people watch. It made me feel better knowing that there were woman there just as big or bigger than me with no shame). But the second day we decided to go on an excursion. We paid to have someone pick us up (along with 8 other people) and take us to a really cool place called Tulum. These were some really impressive Mayan ruins. Here were some of the best shots that I took:

So, our guide for the day informed us that in order to help maintain the ruins in good condition we were not allowed to climb them (duh) and he asked that if we HAD to wear sunscreen to wear a very minimal amount and only if it was biodegradable. Honestly, I had no idea if mine was biodegradable or not and it looked like no one else was going to wear sunscreen so, I started felling some anxiety. I knew that I would burn even if I was in the shade!! I put a little in my hand and swiped my face and arms but I was going to be left behind so I bagged it and caught up with the others! Not very smart of me! Not only did I not ever touch the ruins (therefore no risk of my sunscreen doing any damage) but there was almost no shade! The whole time that we walked around listening to the guide give us a "Long-winded Brief History of the Mayan Civilization" I hid behind Geoff crouching down so that I would be out of the sun. (I hope you don't get skin cancer, Honey!) The next installment: Leopards, Pumas, and Pythons... Oh My!