We have always called up my brothers to come out and babysit out kids when Eric and I go out on a date. My brothers are good to do it, and the kids get along with them fairly well, but let's be real here - they are late teens-early twenty teenage boys who love video games. They play video games, they mess up the house, they mess up the kids, they put kids down in dirty diapers, and typically it is all sorts of chaos when we get home. Like I said, I love my brothers, but they are boys, and boys just aren't as well trained for these kinds of things as girls are.
You would think in a church as big as ours we would have a plethora of options for babysitters. I think we probably have more options than I realize, but somehow leaving our three kids at home alone with a 12 year-old girl seemed crazy . . . . even though I vividly remember babysitting at that age. But we ventured out into the ward and found a girl that used to be in my Activity Days group and asked her to babysit.
When we pulled into the driveway that first night that she babysat the house was dark, Eric and I started trying to figure out how much you pay a babysitter. With my brothers we just pull a number out of thin air and then tack on some more for gas since they drive so far to get out here. We decided that we would give her $25 (for about 3 1/2 hours of babysitting) if the kids were awake and I said I would raise it to $30 if everyone was asleep and the house was clean. This may seem like a lot to pay a babysitter, but if I find a good one, I wan to KEEP HER!!! And lo and behold, we walked in, the house was clean, the toys were put away, the kids were all sleeping (with clean bums), the dishes were done, and our cute babysitter was sitting on the couch watching Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.
HIRED!!!!
We snagged her pretty much every weekend for the next month. It was awesome. And too good to be true, of course we would have a hiccup.
About two weekends ago we went out to dinner with my aunt, my cousin, and their partners. This time when our beloved babysitter came she didn't bring her cell phone, so we needed to leave one with her. We would typically leave my phone since Eric has so many more people who text him, but since we were going out with my family we thought we had better take my phone and leave Erics.
Now Eric has this one inappopriate friend. The kids call him J-Baum, and that name should clue any Phoenixers who read this blog as to who it is and make this post about a million times more funny. This kid is hilarious!!!! And the whole family loves him, don't think we don't. In fact, I have been told that Eric has it already worked out that if he dies first, J-Baum will be the new man in our lifes. But J-Baum is that one friend that you can always count on to send you messages that say things like "I am never drinking again!!!!" or "I wrote in lipstick on this girls mirror 'You are out of toilet paper'" and those kinds of messages. So it was with great hesitation that Eric left his phone with our babysitter. Add to the stress that J-Baum hadn't texted all day, which means it was a ticking time bomb for when he would next send a text message. We even left saying "Just ignore any inappropriate texts you may get, ha ha ha ha" only we weren't joking.
Honestly I hoped that she wouldn't ever have a reason to read the text messages. But about an hour into dinner I got a text message from Eric's phone from our babysitter just talking about how the night was going. And there went my hopes that she would never read any text messages.
When we finally got home that night, I gave her the money, and asked if she could watch our kiddos again the following weekend for a Christmas party my cousin was having. She was kind of "Oh ya, I'll have to ask" which she has never said before, she just says yes or no. I was thinking that maybe the kids had just been bad or something and she needed a little space.
Boy was I wrong.
When I walk back into the house from taking her home, Eric is laughing at the kitchen counter, phone in hand. I asked him what he was laughing about, and he shows me the only other text that came in that night other than the ones I sent. It was from J-Baum. Now, I can think of about every single text message that this fellow has sent, both to me and Eric, and I can honestly say that pretty much all of them could have been sent to our 12 year-old babysitter without a problem. She would have just looked at them, been liek weird and moved on. But the one that was sent was probably the best example of a text a 12 year-old babysitter should never get.
"Hey, what are you wearing? Just kidding, what are you NOT wearing???"
MORTIFYING.
Well not really. It's actually surprisingly, ecstatically, masterpiece-style funny. But at the same time mortifying. Because there are only two options:
1: We get arrested for soliciting a minor.
2: She thinks we have some freaky relationship that involves my husband getting dirty text messages from other guys.
Neither option seems to fun for us.
What would you do is what I ask my friends?
I ended up calling her, and apologizing profusely! But there is this part of me that wonders if I should have just let it go, if I shoudl have explained to her parents, or how I should have handled it.
Like I said, one of the funniest things that could pretty much ever happen when you think about it. But it's that funny thing that is funny when it happens to someone else, not so funny when it happens to you. Gotta love that J-Baum.
Family Picture
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
The One with Tai Pan Adventures
Everyone constantly tells me about how much they love Tai Pan.
And by everyone I mean my sister.
And by constantly I mean that every time I point to something in her house and say "I like that" she says "Thanks, I got it at Tai Pan."
So Eric and I had to take a little adventure there a few weeks back.
On the one hand I wasn't as impressed as I thought I was going to be.
I guess maybe I was expecting an Ikea, and it wasn't.
Maybe I was expecting SUPER low cost prices . . . and the pricing was okay.
But mostly I was expecting more options.
Now to be completely honest, the lack of every day decor options may have soemthing to do with the fact that 7/8ths of the store was filled with Christmas decor. I don't know if that is how it always is . . . . minus the Christmas decor and add whatever holiday is coming up decor . . . or if typically it is filled to the brim with every day decorating and we just happened to go at a terrible time.
Although we still happened to walk out of the store spending over $100, so I guess the trip wasn't a complete disappointment, and obviously we found some good stuff . . . it just took a little more digging than I had anticipated.
Usually I go to the store thinking in my head of a specific spot in my house that I need some decor item and then I look for something that will fit the space and buy it. This time there was no such pre-planning, and maybe that's why it ended up working out so well. I just walked through the store, picking up what I liked, and as long as it was a decent price I bought it and brought it home.
There was some time at home deciding where to put things, but I ended up finding out that I could use most of it ANYWHERE! And I loved that most of it ended up on top of our kitchen cupboards which I have been trying for YEARS (no kidding) to find the perfect decorating pieces for.
Everything in this picure except for the "M" and the white bowl came from Tai Pan. It's funny cause as I was grabbing things in that store I wasn't thinking "these things would all look good together". And maybe they don't, and maybe it's the fact that they don't actually "go" together, but somehow they "go" together. I feel like Danny Zuko in Grease telling Sandy "We didn't go together, we just went together!" But hopefully you understand what I am getting at. If not the Grease reference should have given you some comic relief.
Then this picture . . . . well actually nothing in this picture came from Tai Pan. But I was more looking to show what the top of both sets of cabinets look like. That Morroccan pattern on that wood piece back there, yes I am currently obsessed with that stencil. You may have noticed it is on to pof the entry table I built as well. LOVE IT. The black vases came from Costco about four years ago and I am debating whether or not I should paint them white. And the mossy thing my mother in law bought and put together for me. She is one of those classy decorators who can somehow find good things to put in everyone's houses.
And well that Cinderalla doll there is actually Preslie's bribe for potty training.
It's still in the box, so obviously we are still working on it.
But we will get there eventually.
The One With the Ear Infection
This little man is sick.
Why, you may ask?
Because he is almost a year old and that is when EVERY one of our kids start to break down.
He was up all night on Wednesday, then again on Thursday.
Long and terrible nights.
It is so tough to see this little boy who is usually so happy and content be so upset. And I feel like a terrible mom when no matter what I do it doesn't change anything.
Friday we called the pediatrician and took him in.
DOUBLE EAR INFECTION!
Like bad!
I was like, "WHAT?!?!?!?"
The kid hasn't tugged at his ears once.
And we are pros at the Marshall house with ear infections. Parker had 10 seperate ear inefections before he was a year old. So many that they put tubes in his ears at 14 months old. So I would have thought surely we could have found out what was wrong with him.
The doc also said they are seeing massive amounts of influenza rolling through their office. She said she thought it was possible that is what caused it all . .. . only Pax hasn't thrown up, which I am grateful for.
In any case, he finally slept an okay night Saturday to Sunday. Today he stayed home from church with Daddy while I went and did my librarial (?) librarian (?) duties.
But when he gets really upset and grumpy I find that it helps to calm my 7 hours of sleep in the last four days brain to look at pictures like this one where he is happy.
About a week ago Pax had is first Lofthouse Sugar Cookie.
This kid doesn't eat, pretty much ever, hence the oral therapist, but look at that he slicked up that cookie real quick.
I understand, Pax, those cookies are my kryptonite too.
The One with the Lamp Update
With the new arranging of our family room, and my sudden urgent need to have our house actually look like someone lives in it (rather than just being staged) I have decided to add some decor to the rooms. I love lamps! They are so awesome, there are so many options, you can change them up so many ways. They add light. They take up space. Somehow they even make your room look complete. Seriously. Think about it. Can you imagine a nighstand without a lamp on it? I think not.
But I HATE how expensive lights can be. Especilaly since I have this ever evolving style. And too often I buy a lamp (or really any decor) that is crazy specific to a certain decor style. I'm learning that I need to go a little more neutral with stuff. We started decorating our house when we first bought it SUPER MODERN. Straight lines, lots of stainless steel, sparsely deocated, the works. There is something I love about those clean lines and lack of clutter. But let's be real here, we have three kids, there is no way NOT to have clutter. And our house wasn't built to be a modern house, so our decor probably kind of clashed with the actual architecture of our house. Time to change that up.
Back to the lamps. I have recently become very obsessed with decorating in white. Or off-white. Or very light shades of gray or yellow or blue that are so light they are basically white. I guess I have come to realize that it makes the space seem light and airy. In looking for lamps for our newly arranged living room though, I wasn't having much luck. Not that I didn't find anything, I totally did. But even Target was trying to sell their awesome more substantial lamps for $50+ and then I needed to swap out the shade anyways. Sad day. I'm not wanting to pay that much to redo the rooms in our house. If I am smart about this, I can redo every room for the price I could redo ONE for.
Enter Deseret Industries. The one by our house we send stuff to ALL the time, but we only have been in it once to see what the prices of their new mattresses were. And I was scared to go in there. It's in downtown Nampa. 'Nuff said, right? Not to mention I feel awkward in most of those places anyways. People look at us funny. It's like they don't think it's fair for us to be in there to save money instead of shopping in there because we have to. But this time we sucked it up and ran in and ran back out REAL fast. And we found this beauty.
Actually I found a lamp that was probably three feet tall (but was a table lamp) that I tried to convince Eric to let me buy, and when he said no I had to improvise. . . . I dug a little deeper and then I found this beauty. It didn't come with a lampshade, and I would never in a million years put that color of bronze in any room in my house. But the overall shape and design of it I knew woudl be great after it was painted.
Lamp: $9
Paint: $3
Shade: $14
TOTAL: $26
I'm in love with it. At least right now I am. In another couple of months when my style changes again I may want to change it. But here's the good part. I feel a lot less guilty changing out this $26 lamp than I would changing out some holy dang expensive one I bought at Target.
But I HATE how expensive lights can be. Especilaly since I have this ever evolving style. And too often I buy a lamp (or really any decor) that is crazy specific to a certain decor style. I'm learning that I need to go a little more neutral with stuff. We started decorating our house when we first bought it SUPER MODERN. Straight lines, lots of stainless steel, sparsely deocated, the works. There is something I love about those clean lines and lack of clutter. But let's be real here, we have three kids, there is no way NOT to have clutter. And our house wasn't built to be a modern house, so our decor probably kind of clashed with the actual architecture of our house. Time to change that up.
Back to the lamps. I have recently become very obsessed with decorating in white. Or off-white. Or very light shades of gray or yellow or blue that are so light they are basically white. I guess I have come to realize that it makes the space seem light and airy. In looking for lamps for our newly arranged living room though, I wasn't having much luck. Not that I didn't find anything, I totally did. But even Target was trying to sell their awesome more substantial lamps for $50+ and then I needed to swap out the shade anyways. Sad day. I'm not wanting to pay that much to redo the rooms in our house. If I am smart about this, I can redo every room for the price I could redo ONE for.
Enter Deseret Industries. The one by our house we send stuff to ALL the time, but we only have been in it once to see what the prices of their new mattresses were. And I was scared to go in there. It's in downtown Nampa. 'Nuff said, right? Not to mention I feel awkward in most of those places anyways. People look at us funny. It's like they don't think it's fair for us to be in there to save money instead of shopping in there because we have to. But this time we sucked it up and ran in and ran back out REAL fast. And we found this beauty.
Actually I found a lamp that was probably three feet tall (but was a table lamp) that I tried to convince Eric to let me buy, and when he said no I had to improvise. . . . I dug a little deeper and then I found this beauty. It didn't come with a lampshade, and I would never in a million years put that color of bronze in any room in my house. But the overall shape and design of it I knew woudl be great after it was painted.
Paint: $3
Shade: $14
TOTAL: $26
I'm in love with it. At least right now I am. In another couple of months when my style changes again I may want to change it. But here's the good part. I feel a lot less guilty changing out this $26 lamp than I would changing out some holy dang expensive one I bought at Target.
The One With the Power Tools
Eric and I have this love-hate relationship with our house right now. I absolutely love our house. I love the set-up, I love the upgrades the builder did, I love the upgrades we did . . . . but man I HATE that it is starting to seem too small (the downside of buying a house when you only have one kid and then bringing home two more) and I HATE how far away we are from everything we do.
Being far away doesn't even really make sense, we actually have a GREAT location. Close to the freeway, close to a new shopping center, close to a church, right next to a school, yada yada yade. But we are about 20 minutes (on a good day) from Meridian where both of us work. And although 20 minutes doesn't seem like much when compared to my father-in-laws 75 minute one-way trip to work every day, it seems like a lot any time we want to see family, get to work quickly, go to other stores that aren't right by us. . . . you know, all of that stuff. Really we just need to venture out and explore Nampa, I am sure there is all sorts of awesomeness here just waiting to be discovered.
I don't know if it's because we are approaching five years in this house (which is about three years longer than we had planned on) or if it's because we are just becoming more daring (tht must be it), but Eric and I are finally starting to REALLY decorate this house. Do things we want to it. Invest a little bit in furniture and builder details so that we like them for longer - and they last longer, and then we don't have to do it again. It's probably my recent involvement in pinterest. . . . . but MAN we are getting on top of adding things to this lovely house and decorating it up the way WE want. Not the way that works with some randome piece of furniture or art work someone gave to us, but the way WE want it. You may not guess this if you walked through some of the rooms upstairs just now given that Parker and Pax's room has nothing but bookshelfs hung on the wall, and Preslie's room is looking a little scarce as well . . . but that's just because we have finally purged ourselves from all the stuff we have inherited over the years that just becomes that "I guess we will put this here for now" stuff and consistenly gets moved around the house.
Eric and I are also probably slightly weird when it comes to presents. For example . . . . this year for Christmas I asked for and got (early) a miter saw, a table saw, a nail gun, and a sander. Kind of crazy, yes?!?!? Maybe I'm nuts for thinking it is crazy, but I was ecstatic to get them all. And really, I have put them to some pretty good use already.
Our front entry way is huge! Seriously, it was one of the first things I noticed when we walked into tour the house. It is also the priority entrance to our house since both the front door AND the garage door empty into this space. It's been mostly blank, there was this little mirror/key hanger thing that was up on the wall for pretty much the entire time we've lived here so far . . . . remember that story I said about using things we were given just because? that mirror/key hanger falls into that category. I've always wanted an awesome entryway table, one that I could decorate with the seasons and put right behind the door. But the space is awkward, it really isn't big enough for a BIG table, and it seems like most of the tables we found were either TOO narrow or TOO deep, and I don't know that we found a single table that was wide enough without being too wide for the space.
So I found a tutorial for how to make an entryway table on one of my favorite DIY blogger websites. Seriously guys, I RELIGIOUSLY follow two diy blogs: thriftyandchic.com and thehouseofsmiths.com. Love them, love their style, love their tutorials, love everything about it.
But at Thrifty and Chic she gives this great tutorial on how to make an entryway table. Mine ended up a little bit different, my legs are wider set than hers, but I thought it fit our space better. And not to be completely copy-cat-ish of her, but I loved the stenciling she did on top of her table, so I had to do it to. I guess I am a copy-cat then. So be it.
For Christmas we as a family got a new 60" TV. We like it. We have been having at least one movie night every week with the kids. It's nice to sit down and spend actual family time together for a bit. Sometimes we have a picnic, sometimes we don't, but regardless we always have a good time. Right after we bought the TV we also cleaned our carpets (did you know you can rent an industrial one at Tates Rents for $40???) which required us to move everything out of our family room, and in the process we decided we liked our front room set up completely different than it currently was. Switching our couches around meant we had to move our TV as well. And since we moved our TV, and the set up of all the furniture, we ended up needing to build a cabinet to house all of our electronics, AND a cover for the subwoofer. The sub is too small to be a side table in and of itself, but it's too ugly to not be covered somehow. I wish I could take credit for these, but I can't. . . . Eric did these ones. They have worked perfect in the space, and I just love them.
Don't you love how our office got turned into the project room? It's nice since it is curently SO COLD in our garage, but my office is now pretty much always trashed with some project we have going on.
I can't get these two pictures to pull apart. BUT The top one is the table built to house the sub, and the bottom one is for the electronic rack. Don't mind the cords you see, we are working on getting those all hidden . . . . which is another long process.
The MOST recent project (as in we finished it last night) was this little mirror hanging wall art piece. The idea once again game from Thrifty and Chic, except hers is dark brown, and ours for obvious reasons needed to be white - there is too much dark in our room alreday with the wood planking wall treatment we did before. This has a two fold purpose. First it puts some art on teh massive wall that I haven't decorated yet. BUT it also covers up the previous holes for where our TV was hung before. I'm not lazy guys, I swear, I just know myself well enough to know that in another six months, I may decide I want to put the TV back on that wall, and I didn't want us to have to cut out new holes, so this gives us the ability ti EASILY change things up again without having to do anything too crazy.
Being far away doesn't even really make sense, we actually have a GREAT location. Close to the freeway, close to a new shopping center, close to a church, right next to a school, yada yada yade. But we are about 20 minutes (on a good day) from Meridian where both of us work. And although 20 minutes doesn't seem like much when compared to my father-in-laws 75 minute one-way trip to work every day, it seems like a lot any time we want to see family, get to work quickly, go to other stores that aren't right by us. . . . you know, all of that stuff. Really we just need to venture out and explore Nampa, I am sure there is all sorts of awesomeness here just waiting to be discovered.
I don't know if it's because we are approaching five years in this house (which is about three years longer than we had planned on) or if it's because we are just becoming more daring (tht must be it), but Eric and I are finally starting to REALLY decorate this house. Do things we want to it. Invest a little bit in furniture and builder details so that we like them for longer - and they last longer, and then we don't have to do it again. It's probably my recent involvement in pinterest. . . . . but MAN we are getting on top of adding things to this lovely house and decorating it up the way WE want. Not the way that works with some randome piece of furniture or art work someone gave to us, but the way WE want it. You may not guess this if you walked through some of the rooms upstairs just now given that Parker and Pax's room has nothing but bookshelfs hung on the wall, and Preslie's room is looking a little scarce as well . . . but that's just because we have finally purged ourselves from all the stuff we have inherited over the years that just becomes that "I guess we will put this here for now" stuff and consistenly gets moved around the house.
Eric and I are also probably slightly weird when it comes to presents. For example . . . . this year for Christmas I asked for and got (early) a miter saw, a table saw, a nail gun, and a sander. Kind of crazy, yes?!?!? Maybe I'm nuts for thinking it is crazy, but I was ecstatic to get them all. And really, I have put them to some pretty good use already.
Our front entry way is huge! Seriously, it was one of the first things I noticed when we walked into tour the house. It is also the priority entrance to our house since both the front door AND the garage door empty into this space. It's been mostly blank, there was this little mirror/key hanger thing that was up on the wall for pretty much the entire time we've lived here so far . . . . remember that story I said about using things we were given just because? that mirror/key hanger falls into that category. I've always wanted an awesome entryway table, one that I could decorate with the seasons and put right behind the door. But the space is awkward, it really isn't big enough for a BIG table, and it seems like most of the tables we found were either TOO narrow or TOO deep, and I don't know that we found a single table that was wide enough without being too wide for the space.
So I found a tutorial for how to make an entryway table on one of my favorite DIY blogger websites. Seriously guys, I RELIGIOUSLY follow two diy blogs: thriftyandchic.com and thehouseofsmiths.com. Love them, love their style, love their tutorials, love everything about it.
But at Thrifty and Chic she gives this great tutorial on how to make an entryway table. Mine ended up a little bit different, my legs are wider set than hers, but I thought it fit our space better. And not to be completely copy-cat-ish of her, but I loved the stenciling she did on top of her table, so I had to do it to. I guess I am a copy-cat then. So be it.
For Christmas we as a family got a new 60" TV. We like it. We have been having at least one movie night every week with the kids. It's nice to sit down and spend actual family time together for a bit. Sometimes we have a picnic, sometimes we don't, but regardless we always have a good time. Right after we bought the TV we also cleaned our carpets (did you know you can rent an industrial one at Tates Rents for $40???) which required us to move everything out of our family room, and in the process we decided we liked our front room set up completely different than it currently was. Switching our couches around meant we had to move our TV as well. And since we moved our TV, and the set up of all the furniture, we ended up needing to build a cabinet to house all of our electronics, AND a cover for the subwoofer. The sub is too small to be a side table in and of itself, but it's too ugly to not be covered somehow. I wish I could take credit for these, but I can't. . . . Eric did these ones. They have worked perfect in the space, and I just love them.
Don't you love how our office got turned into the project room? It's nice since it is curently SO COLD in our garage, but my office is now pretty much always trashed with some project we have going on.
The MOST recent project (as in we finished it last night) was this little mirror hanging wall art piece. The idea once again game from Thrifty and Chic, except hers is dark brown, and ours for obvious reasons needed to be white - there is too much dark in our room alreday with the wood planking wall treatment we did before. This has a two fold purpose. First it puts some art on teh massive wall that I haven't decorated yet. BUT it also covers up the previous holes for where our TV was hung before. I'm not lazy guys, I swear, I just know myself well enough to know that in another six months, I may decide I want to put the TV back on that wall, and I didn't want us to have to cut out new holes, so this gives us the ability ti EASILY change things up again without having to do anything too crazy.
Yes. . . . I love me my new power tools!
Thursday, November 29, 2012
The One with Winter Family Pictures
Did we just take family pictures six months ago? YES.
Did we need to take more? Maybe not
But did we anyways? SURE THING!
And why? Because Paxton now has hair and is moving around - which he wasn't before, and I am now almost a year post-baby which means in much better shape. . . . as in I might actually be okay with people looking at the pictures with ME in them. Yes, yes, I am the normal woman who is self-concious . . . . strange, I know.
We had Katie Hardy a good friend I went to school with take these ones - she also took the last ones in May, the ones I loved so much I made canvases of and put up on our wall. They are that good! I think she does a great job, and I love these ones, and we had a hard time narrowing down the pictures to only four for our Christmas card.
Did we need to take more? Maybe not
But did we anyways? SURE THING!
And why? Because Paxton now has hair and is moving around - which he wasn't before, and I am now almost a year post-baby which means in much better shape. . . . as in I might actually be okay with people looking at the pictures with ME in them. Yes, yes, I am the normal woman who is self-concious . . . . strange, I know.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
The one with Mary J
Mary J. Marijuana. Hey Juan will you marry me?
Interesting that the legalization of Marijuana was one of the biggest things that came out of this last election - second, of course, to the re-election of our president. I think what concerns me most is this: with all the poverty, failing economy, people without jobs, people without health care, starving children, etc, how are we really SOOO concerned about marijuana?????
Is there anyone out there that will have the money to buy it anyways? Or am I really going to be paying for a family to be receiving food stamps while Mom and Dad use what little money they do earn buying pot to release their frustrations and hot box in the bathroom?
I've never used the stuff, I can say that. Partly because I'm not an idiot (ha ha). But mostly because it's against the law and because it alters your mental status, and my parents would kill me, and Jesus said no, and there are really an entire list of reasons.
I have absolutely heard all of the "PRO-Marijuana" arguments. My husband is from Portland, okay, it's not like we haven't gone this round with a million people. And while I am all for people doing whatever they want with their own body, I think too many people fail to recognize that almost nothing (maybe even nothing) we do actually only influences ourselves without affecting others.
I've heard this argument: "People smoke it anyways, we might as well make it legal." SERIOUS? You are absolutely right! My child craps in her diaper even though I tell her not to, I might as well not potty train her. People drink and drive even though it's against the law, we might as well not throw them in jail for it. People shoot up heroine anyways, we might as well give them a clean and sterile needle to do it with. This is known as the fallacy of perfection. And it is one of the biggest fallacies (bend in reasoning) we all depend on - seriously, just think about how much this example comes up in your life. If we can't stop all of it, we may as well not do anything at all.
Another one. "There's no way marijuana use will kill people like driving drunk does." Really? Is that something we can accurately measure? Are there actually polls out there that show that people who drive while high don't ever have an accident? Here's the most obvious counterargument for that one. Say someone you love, maybe even a child was in a car. Say they were hit by another car, and this person died. You are grief stricken, and upset, then the police tell you the person driving the other car was high. I have a hard time believing that is NOT going to make you upset. I have a hard time believing you would not push for that person to go to jail for driving while under some sort of mind altering drug. Because that's what it is. YES it absolutely slows your reflexes - the whole purpose in smoking it is to feel like you don't have a care in the world. Does that sound like a person attentive at the wheel to you? And the idea that the number of people driving while under it's influence won't increase is absolutely nuts! Marijuana consumption of ANY kind was illegal before. OF COURSE PEOPLE stayed at home when they were high, it was the easiest way to conceal the fact that they were doing something illegal! I guarantee the number of people pulled over under the influence of marijuana increases in these states.
I think the thing that honestly makes me the most sad is seeing where our country is going. I am now starting to see what our grandparents talk about when they say things like "In our day, that would never have been acceptable." Why is it that things that have been inherently labled as wrong from birth are now changing. Now I'm the bigot because I believe in the sanctity of marriage, and preserving life, and God in our country! Fifty years ago someone having an abortion was abhorant, and now I'm supposed to be okay with it because why? What changed? Some years passed?
I have many family members who are in same-sex partnerships. I love them, and I love their partners. Its a tough one for me for sure. But I am just finding it depressing that now because I carry the same values and beliefs that have been passed down from generation to generation, I am a terrible person. Why have the tables all of a sudden turned?
Interesting that the legalization of Marijuana was one of the biggest things that came out of this last election - second, of course, to the re-election of our president. I think what concerns me most is this: with all the poverty, failing economy, people without jobs, people without health care, starving children, etc, how are we really SOOO concerned about marijuana?????
Is there anyone out there that will have the money to buy it anyways? Or am I really going to be paying for a family to be receiving food stamps while Mom and Dad use what little money they do earn buying pot to release their frustrations and hot box in the bathroom?
I've never used the stuff, I can say that. Partly because I'm not an idiot (ha ha). But mostly because it's against the law and because it alters your mental status, and my parents would kill me, and Jesus said no, and there are really an entire list of reasons.
I have absolutely heard all of the "PRO-Marijuana" arguments. My husband is from Portland, okay, it's not like we haven't gone this round with a million people. And while I am all for people doing whatever they want with their own body, I think too many people fail to recognize that almost nothing (maybe even nothing) we do actually only influences ourselves without affecting others.
I've heard this argument: "People smoke it anyways, we might as well make it legal." SERIOUS? You are absolutely right! My child craps in her diaper even though I tell her not to, I might as well not potty train her. People drink and drive even though it's against the law, we might as well not throw them in jail for it. People shoot up heroine anyways, we might as well give them a clean and sterile needle to do it with. This is known as the fallacy of perfection. And it is one of the biggest fallacies (bend in reasoning) we all depend on - seriously, just think about how much this example comes up in your life. If we can't stop all of it, we may as well not do anything at all.
Another one. "There's no way marijuana use will kill people like driving drunk does." Really? Is that something we can accurately measure? Are there actually polls out there that show that people who drive while high don't ever have an accident? Here's the most obvious counterargument for that one. Say someone you love, maybe even a child was in a car. Say they were hit by another car, and this person died. You are grief stricken, and upset, then the police tell you the person driving the other car was high. I have a hard time believing that is NOT going to make you upset. I have a hard time believing you would not push for that person to go to jail for driving while under some sort of mind altering drug. Because that's what it is. YES it absolutely slows your reflexes - the whole purpose in smoking it is to feel like you don't have a care in the world. Does that sound like a person attentive at the wheel to you? And the idea that the number of people driving while under it's influence won't increase is absolutely nuts! Marijuana consumption of ANY kind was illegal before. OF COURSE PEOPLE stayed at home when they were high, it was the easiest way to conceal the fact that they were doing something illegal! I guarantee the number of people pulled over under the influence of marijuana increases in these states.
I think the thing that honestly makes me the most sad is seeing where our country is going. I am now starting to see what our grandparents talk about when they say things like "In our day, that would never have been acceptable." Why is it that things that have been inherently labled as wrong from birth are now changing. Now I'm the bigot because I believe in the sanctity of marriage, and preserving life, and God in our country! Fifty years ago someone having an abortion was abhorant, and now I'm supposed to be okay with it because why? What changed? Some years passed?
I have many family members who are in same-sex partnerships. I love them, and I love their partners. Its a tough one for me for sure. But I am just finding it depressing that now because I carry the same values and beliefs that have been passed down from generation to generation, I am a terrible person. Why have the tables all of a sudden turned?
The One With the Election
Well this is it! Yes, a ranting political post - only slightly less ranting, and maybe less political so much as my personal beliefs. Why can I do this here? Because here you come to hear what I have to say, not what a milion friends have to say like on Facebook . . . . and you know what, for the most part I kept my views off Facebook statuses. Why you may ask? Because I hate that every person uses it as a way to say every dang thing that is on their mind. Tell me about the truly awesome (and sadly terrible) things that happen to you! PLEASE! Tell me in quick, short, succinct sentences about those things . . . . but really, I don't need to see pictures of your dinner, or hear detailed stories about changing a diaper on facebook - that's what I stalk your blogs for.
Soap box done.
Or at least that soap box.
It is Thursday. The elections were on Tuesday. Honestly, I'm not surprised with the outcome. If you like Obama, this is probably the part where you should stop reading. I don't mean Obama as a person, as a person I think he's great, but as my country's leader. . .eh not so much. Eric and I were talking about the elections (forever) last week and he was asking me who I thought would win.
"Obama."
WHY? He asked me.
Because as members of the church we know that things are going to get ape crazy before the second coming. I didn't see things getting too crazy under Romney, so I figure it's gotta be Obama who makes it into office. I don't even so much think this was a win for Obama, as much as I think it was a win for the MEDIA. Seriously! Can they swing things anymore? Can there be just one single station who can report BOTH sides of the equation instead of picking and choosing the stories they want that paint their party in the best light?? I mena come on! I posted a status on Facebook about two weeks ago that pretty much sums it up.
We were watching Fox News when "BREAKING" news came out about how the Obama administration knew what was happening in Benghazi the entire time the ambassdor was missing, the entire time two Navy Seals killed 88 of 200 terrorists before they were killed themselves, and the entire time that it was indeed a terrorist attack and NOT the result of some stuipd YouTube video (don't even get me started on THAT one, how stupid are we the American people to fall for that one?). I am well aware that Fox News, though strikingly less bias than other stations, has a bias. So Eric and I, after watching what they had to say for a few minutes, switched over to CNN to get the "other" side of the story. You know what we saw? DL Hughley (a black comedian) talking about why he hates Romney.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? That's all CNN can come up with, a comedian to tell me who I should vote for based on his personal preferences not at all founded on political beliefs???? What makes me more upset is that I know too many American citizens fall for this kind of crap. Stop being sheep! BAAAA!!!!! Stop going someplace because some comedian, actor, friend, parent told you to. And that includes Republicans. I don't want republicans voting republican because their mommy told them to, find out for yourself. It's just like in church - be TRULY converted! Don't base your ideas and practices off your parents, have them because you KNOW them to be true.
Anyways, back to the media. They did a bang up job of covering what they wanted to, glorifying the minor things, and painting anyone they didn't want elected as a terrible, woman hating, mogul tycoon tyrant. Good job media, I'm glad to know that Matt Lauer who makes 10 million dollars a year has dooped all the people in this country making less than $40,000 into believing he knows what's best for them. And for the record, I am a subjective enough person that I am not saying these kinds of things because the candidate I wanted wasn't elected, I'm saying them because I want the media to be unbias, and report both sides. Even if there are things about Romney that aren't favorable (which we heard of) and even about Obama (which apparently there was nothing).
I keep thinking, was that it? Was that our warning? We know what the pride cycle is, are we now going to get a smashing humbling experience thrown down on our entire country? I look at New York and wonder, MAN is that what this is about? Is there so many unrighteous people or people who need humbling that this has to happen? I'm not saying everyone is, I know TONS of people on the East coast who are amazing individuals, I am just starting to wonder if the amazing peopel are being swallowed up by the idiots.
I can say that I am acutely aware of how incredible the resolve of the American citizen is. Even with unemployment rising, and terrible things happening, even with a President I don't personally believe is fit to run this country, I do not believe we will topple to the earth. This land is full of incredible people, with amazing work ethic and beautiful spirits, I am grateful for all of them that help to keep this nation moving and producing regardless of the financial bind we find ourselves in.
For that I can say, I am excited for the next four years. No doubt there will be some large trials, but once I am on the opposite side of four years, I know I will be able to look back, and will have grown so much, matured ten fold, and have experiences that make me a stronger mother, a more compassionate wife, and an incredible person.
Soap box done.
Or at least that soap box.
It is Thursday. The elections were on Tuesday. Honestly, I'm not surprised with the outcome. If you like Obama, this is probably the part where you should stop reading. I don't mean Obama as a person, as a person I think he's great, but as my country's leader. . .eh not so much. Eric and I were talking about the elections (forever) last week and he was asking me who I thought would win.
"Obama."
WHY? He asked me.
Because as members of the church we know that things are going to get ape crazy before the second coming. I didn't see things getting too crazy under Romney, so I figure it's gotta be Obama who makes it into office. I don't even so much think this was a win for Obama, as much as I think it was a win for the MEDIA. Seriously! Can they swing things anymore? Can there be just one single station who can report BOTH sides of the equation instead of picking and choosing the stories they want that paint their party in the best light?? I mena come on! I posted a status on Facebook about two weeks ago that pretty much sums it up.
We were watching Fox News when "BREAKING" news came out about how the Obama administration knew what was happening in Benghazi the entire time the ambassdor was missing, the entire time two Navy Seals killed 88 of 200 terrorists before they were killed themselves, and the entire time that it was indeed a terrorist attack and NOT the result of some stuipd YouTube video (don't even get me started on THAT one, how stupid are we the American people to fall for that one?). I am well aware that Fox News, though strikingly less bias than other stations, has a bias. So Eric and I, after watching what they had to say for a few minutes, switched over to CNN to get the "other" side of the story. You know what we saw? DL Hughley (a black comedian) talking about why he hates Romney.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? That's all CNN can come up with, a comedian to tell me who I should vote for based on his personal preferences not at all founded on political beliefs???? What makes me more upset is that I know too many American citizens fall for this kind of crap. Stop being sheep! BAAAA!!!!! Stop going someplace because some comedian, actor, friend, parent told you to. And that includes Republicans. I don't want republicans voting republican because their mommy told them to, find out for yourself. It's just like in church - be TRULY converted! Don't base your ideas and practices off your parents, have them because you KNOW them to be true.
Anyways, back to the media. They did a bang up job of covering what they wanted to, glorifying the minor things, and painting anyone they didn't want elected as a terrible, woman hating, mogul tycoon tyrant. Good job media, I'm glad to know that Matt Lauer who makes 10 million dollars a year has dooped all the people in this country making less than $40,000 into believing he knows what's best for them. And for the record, I am a subjective enough person that I am not saying these kinds of things because the candidate I wanted wasn't elected, I'm saying them because I want the media to be unbias, and report both sides. Even if there are things about Romney that aren't favorable (which we heard of) and even about Obama (which apparently there was nothing).
I keep thinking, was that it? Was that our warning? We know what the pride cycle is, are we now going to get a smashing humbling experience thrown down on our entire country? I look at New York and wonder, MAN is that what this is about? Is there so many unrighteous people or people who need humbling that this has to happen? I'm not saying everyone is, I know TONS of people on the East coast who are amazing individuals, I am just starting to wonder if the amazing peopel are being swallowed up by the idiots.
I can say that I am acutely aware of how incredible the resolve of the American citizen is. Even with unemployment rising, and terrible things happening, even with a President I don't personally believe is fit to run this country, I do not believe we will topple to the earth. This land is full of incredible people, with amazing work ethic and beautiful spirits, I am grateful for all of them that help to keep this nation moving and producing regardless of the financial bind we find ourselves in.
For that I can say, I am excited for the next four years. No doubt there will be some large trials, but once I am on the opposite side of four years, I know I will be able to look back, and will have grown so much, matured ten fold, and have experiences that make me a stronger mother, a more compassionate wife, and an incredible person.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
The One with 200+ Kids
Two Sundays ago (I'm falling way behind in the blogging world) Parker had his Primary Program in church. One of my good friends is the Primary President, and it wasn't until that program that I realized HOW big of a calling that was. I mean, it's always a big calling, but we have over 200 children in our ward - that's a lot of kids to put into a program, herd all over the place, keep quiet, and teach. I was VERY impressed with what a wonderful program it was, and Parker did AMAZING!!! He is turning into such a little man - complete with singing through barely moving lips. He is pretty cute!
Thursday, October 11, 2012
The One with the Double UP
Currently I am in week seven (of nine) of my final block of classes to finish my Associates in Health Administration. It is pretty exciting to be almost done with this degree finally, and move onto the bachelor's program.
I'm twenty-five, I'm a little old (at least I feel like) to not have my bachelor's degree yet. I am also super inpatient, and super ready to get started in my career field. I know I could go out and find a job with my AHA but I know I could find a better paying one with my BHA. But here's where the inpatience comes in. All the credits I started when I was at BYU-I were for a Biology degree, so nothing is really transferring over. Which means to finish my bachelor's I have another two years.
I don't want to wait to years though.
So instead I have spoken to my counselors and we are doubling up classes for my bachelor's program so I can be done with it in a year.
I thought things were a little hectic now . . . . I can only assume they will get slightly more hectic with this new method, but I know it's worth it. With any luck I'll be done with my master's when I'm 27. I like the sound of that!
I'm twenty-five, I'm a little old (at least I feel like) to not have my bachelor's degree yet. I am also super inpatient, and super ready to get started in my career field. I know I could go out and find a job with my AHA but I know I could find a better paying one with my BHA. But here's where the inpatience comes in. All the credits I started when I was at BYU-I were for a Biology degree, so nothing is really transferring over. Which means to finish my bachelor's I have another two years.
I don't want to wait to years though.
So instead I have spoken to my counselors and we are doubling up classes for my bachelor's program so I can be done with it in a year.
I thought things were a little hectic now . . . . I can only assume they will get slightly more hectic with this new method, but I know it's worth it. With any luck I'll be done with my master's when I'm 27. I like the sound of that!
The One with the Frenuloplasty
Surgery time at the Marshall house, right? I know that's what you're all thinking. I don't know what it is with our little family, but there's always something medical happening it seems like. Or maybe it's that we're always paying off medical things that have happened. The payments last oh so much longer than the procedure, that is for sure. That is my favorite part of Eric's job having such awesome benefits. We rarely find ourselves in a situation where we have to make payments for longer than a couple months. It is awesome. I am so glad to finally be done with individual insurance plans!
We had to be to the surgery center with Pax at 6:30. That is so early. Especially since it takes us 30 minutes to drive there. That means up at 5 for Mom! SUPER FUN! It was nice at least that we didn't have to worry about trying to keep Pax happy without eating for hours.
He went in, he had surgery, it took about 20 minutes, and the anesthesiologist brought him out himself. Of course Pax was already crying. In the SWIDENT surgery center the nurses always talk about hwo most babies just sleep when they come out of surgery. A nurse brings them out, puts them in your arms, and they are just asleep and slowly wake up.
I call crap.
At least for all of our kids. Every single one of them wakes up screaming and flailing. It makes me feel slightly bad for the other patients since there is only a thin curtain separating the rooms. We eventually got him calmed down enough to go home.
He has one stitch in his top lip and one under his tongue. I don't think he has any idea what to do with his tongue - it's such a new thing for him. He hasn't quite figured out how to suck on his bottle well again. And other than a few bites of pudding he hasn't eaten anything baby food-ish either. It's okay though, I know we'll get him back into the swing of things.
As of right now, I am beyond ecstatic for bed tonight. Instead of sleeping off all the anesthesia last nigt Pax decided to stay up all night, forcing me to watch the entire final season of One Tree Hill. And as much as I like the show, and as much as I wanted to watch the final season, I definitely like my sleep better.
Here's to hoping I can get at least four hours of solid sleep tonight!
We had to be to the surgery center with Pax at 6:30. That is so early. Especially since it takes us 30 minutes to drive there. That means up at 5 for Mom! SUPER FUN! It was nice at least that we didn't have to worry about trying to keep Pax happy without eating for hours.
He went in, he had surgery, it took about 20 minutes, and the anesthesiologist brought him out himself. Of course Pax was already crying. In the SWIDENT surgery center the nurses always talk about hwo most babies just sleep when they come out of surgery. A nurse brings them out, puts them in your arms, and they are just asleep and slowly wake up.
I call crap.
At least for all of our kids. Every single one of them wakes up screaming and flailing. It makes me feel slightly bad for the other patients since there is only a thin curtain separating the rooms. We eventually got him calmed down enough to go home.
He has one stitch in his top lip and one under his tongue. I don't think he has any idea what to do with his tongue - it's such a new thing for him. He hasn't quite figured out how to suck on his bottle well again. And other than a few bites of pudding he hasn't eaten anything baby food-ish either. It's okay though, I know we'll get him back into the swing of things.
As of right now, I am beyond ecstatic for bed tonight. Instead of sleeping off all the anesthesia last nigt Pax decided to stay up all night, forcing me to watch the entire final season of One Tree Hill. And as much as I like the show, and as much as I wanted to watch the final season, I definitely like my sleep better.
Here's to hoping I can get at least four hours of solid sleep tonight!
Sunday, October 7, 2012
The one with the Red Card
At Parker's pre-school they have a green card/red card system. The kids start out with a green card every day, if they do something they shouldn't they have to switch their card to red. If they have a red card at the end of the day they don't get a sticker.
One day I picked Parker up and his teacher told me he had gotten into a fight with his friend and they both ended up with red cards. I'm not sure who was more embarassed in this situation, me or Parker. Parker is a really good kid too, so it was that much more surprising to everyone in the situation. After a few discussions with Park, Eric and I decided we could use the whole concept of a red card to our advantage. Now in our house we have a green card/red card system. It gets talked about quite frequently, "You better stop that or you'll get a red card" or "Do you want a red card?" etc etc. It may seem weird, but it's a consequence he seems to understand better than "people won't like you if you act like that".
Keept his in mind as I go off on a tangent real fast.
When Eric and I first met I was startng a defensive driving course. Basically, it was court mandated. When I was a teenager I was a little into speeding everywhere I went. I doubt it helped much that I drove a red camaro, nothing like a sports car that is red to catch any police officer's eye . . . . and their radar gun.
BUT since we have been married, I haven't been pulled over once! Probably because I now have kids with me in the car and I don't want to hurt them by getting into an accident. Eric's been pulled over a few times but usually he gets off with a warning after this comment "Officer, here's my concealed weapons permit, I have a gun in the glove box, would you still like me to pull out my insurance and registration?" I can't use that excuse. If I told an officer there was a gun in the glove box they'd probably cart me off to jail since I DON'T have a permit.
Last Wednesday I had activity days. To get Parker into pre-school I had to switch my work days so I now work on Wednesdays. This was the first Wednesday that I was going to have to leave early to make it home in time for activity days. I ended up leaving way later than I intended - try getting three kids out the door on time for anything, it's ridiculous. Eric had also just had surgery that week and was not feeling great. I was on the freeway heading home, and i just kept getting stuck behind this semi, he didn't want to drive the speed limit. The guy next to him didn't want to drive the speed limit. They kept swapping who was in the lead, but neither one of them would get in front of the other enough that I could pass between them. When they finally did, I went for it, squeezed through the opening and speed around them. I know, I shouldn't speed, but I was in a hurry, and I just needed to get around these people.
Bad idea.
Usually I see the police. And usually it's in enough time that I can react and slow down to five miles under the speed limit, or check my speed really fast to make sure I'm doing fine. I keep reviewing this situation, and I STILL have no clue where this motorcycle cop came from. But he tagged me and pulled me over.
Clearly there is no divine protection offered against speeding home to get to a church calling. Words from the wise . . . . . or at least someone whose experienced it.
He was very nice, showed concern for my husband who had just had surgery, etc, so I couldn't even be mad when he came back with a ticket. The kids were a little confused what was happening, so I was trying to explain it to them.
Parker's response: "MOM! You got a red card!"
Those were also the first words he yelled at Daddy when we walked in.
Yes, I got a red card. And it cost me ninety bucks.
One day I picked Parker up and his teacher told me he had gotten into a fight with his friend and they both ended up with red cards. I'm not sure who was more embarassed in this situation, me or Parker. Parker is a really good kid too, so it was that much more surprising to everyone in the situation. After a few discussions with Park, Eric and I decided we could use the whole concept of a red card to our advantage. Now in our house we have a green card/red card system. It gets talked about quite frequently, "You better stop that or you'll get a red card" or "Do you want a red card?" etc etc. It may seem weird, but it's a consequence he seems to understand better than "people won't like you if you act like that".
Keept his in mind as I go off on a tangent real fast.
When Eric and I first met I was startng a defensive driving course. Basically, it was court mandated. When I was a teenager I was a little into speeding everywhere I went. I doubt it helped much that I drove a red camaro, nothing like a sports car that is red to catch any police officer's eye . . . . and their radar gun.
BUT since we have been married, I haven't been pulled over once! Probably because I now have kids with me in the car and I don't want to hurt them by getting into an accident. Eric's been pulled over a few times but usually he gets off with a warning after this comment "Officer, here's my concealed weapons permit, I have a gun in the glove box, would you still like me to pull out my insurance and registration?" I can't use that excuse. If I told an officer there was a gun in the glove box they'd probably cart me off to jail since I DON'T have a permit.
Last Wednesday I had activity days. To get Parker into pre-school I had to switch my work days so I now work on Wednesdays. This was the first Wednesday that I was going to have to leave early to make it home in time for activity days. I ended up leaving way later than I intended - try getting three kids out the door on time for anything, it's ridiculous. Eric had also just had surgery that week and was not feeling great. I was on the freeway heading home, and i just kept getting stuck behind this semi, he didn't want to drive the speed limit. The guy next to him didn't want to drive the speed limit. They kept swapping who was in the lead, but neither one of them would get in front of the other enough that I could pass between them. When they finally did, I went for it, squeezed through the opening and speed around them. I know, I shouldn't speed, but I was in a hurry, and I just needed to get around these people.
Bad idea.
Usually I see the police. And usually it's in enough time that I can react and slow down to five miles under the speed limit, or check my speed really fast to make sure I'm doing fine. I keep reviewing this situation, and I STILL have no clue where this motorcycle cop came from. But he tagged me and pulled me over.
Clearly there is no divine protection offered against speeding home to get to a church calling. Words from the wise . . . . . or at least someone whose experienced it.
He was very nice, showed concern for my husband who had just had surgery, etc, so I couldn't even be mad when he came back with a ticket. The kids were a little confused what was happening, so I was trying to explain it to them.
Parker's response: "MOM! You got a red card!"
Those were also the first words he yelled at Daddy when we walked in.
Yes, I got a red card. And it cost me ninety bucks.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
The One with the Carpal Tunnel
Monday September 24th Eric went in to get his hand chopped off.
Well not literally, although Parker was super excited to see daddy come home with a hook. But it didn't happen. In his right hand he had carpal tunnel as well as a cyst at the base of his thumb where it meets up with the arm's long bone.
The surgery center was sadly (and unbeknownst to me) owned by West Valley and only furthered my hatred towards them. I guess I should correct that. I don't hate them. The doctors appear to be competent, but the administration aspect is just off.
Anyways, I don't even want to get into it, I just get angry. The good news is he got in and out ALIVE and with all of his appendages. I also got an amazingly hilarious video of my drugged out of his mind husband on the way home. If you haven't already seen it, you should check it out on Facebook, I promise it is worth the 12 minutes of your time.
And now about 5 days later, Eric is doing okay. He's sore, A LOT! And I think he's getting a little over not being able to use his dominant hand to do anthing like do his hair or brush his teeth - and I can't lie and say I am not looking forward to the day when Eric can help out by changing diapers again here and there.
I'm sure the process will be slow, but we are looking forward to it being over . . . . just in time for the other wrist to be done! MAN! Employer insurance was super amazing though again, looks like we won't be paying more than $300 for it total, which I am ecstatic about! He keeps talking about "when I graduate and leave to go [somewhere]" and I'm just like NO WAIT DON'T LEAVE! But we will find a way to survive I am sure!
Well not literally, although Parker was super excited to see daddy come home with a hook. But it didn't happen. In his right hand he had carpal tunnel as well as a cyst at the base of his thumb where it meets up with the arm's long bone.
The surgery center was sadly (and unbeknownst to me) owned by West Valley and only furthered my hatred towards them. I guess I should correct that. I don't hate them. The doctors appear to be competent, but the administration aspect is just off.
Anyways, I don't even want to get into it, I just get angry. The good news is he got in and out ALIVE and with all of his appendages. I also got an amazingly hilarious video of my drugged out of his mind husband on the way home. If you haven't already seen it, you should check it out on Facebook, I promise it is worth the 12 minutes of your time.
And now about 5 days later, Eric is doing okay. He's sore, A LOT! And I think he's getting a little over not being able to use his dominant hand to do anthing like do his hair or brush his teeth - and I can't lie and say I am not looking forward to the day when Eric can help out by changing diapers again here and there.
I'm sure the process will be slow, but we are looking forward to it being over . . . . just in time for the other wrist to be done! MAN! Employer insurance was super amazing though again, looks like we won't be paying more than $300 for it total, which I am ecstatic about! He keeps talking about "when I graduate and leave to go [somewhere]" and I'm just like NO WAIT DON'T LEAVE! But we will find a way to survive I am sure!
The One With the Frenulum
Since coming home from Sun River our life has resumed it's normal craziness. Monday we went back into work. Tuesday Parker had school and then we all bombed out to Paxton's last oral therapy appointment before his therapist leaves to have a baby. She cleared him as good to go for about three months before he will have to come back in. Wednesday back to work and scouts. Thursday Parker had school then head out to Paxton's ENT appointment to meet with the doctor about clipping his tongue.
I just have to say, for all my Idaho friends, if ever your child needs a pediatrict ear nose and throat doctor, get in to see Dr. Beck at Southwest Idaho ENT. She is incredible. She is the only peds doctor in the area, so she is super hard to get into, but she is amazing. Only crappy part is she is so amazingly awesome in the room, that she always runs HOURS behind. So we sat in the office for about an hour and a half AFTER our appointment before she came in. But once she was in, she looked and it was a no brainer - CLIP THE TONGUE. She said it was one of the tightest she had seen. Also to be cut - both frenulums. The frenulum is that little piece of skin that attaches your lip to your gum, clear up inside your mouth. They are typically way far up above your teeth - but Pax's come down inbetween his two front teeth, hence the large gap teeth! So three clippings will happen on October 10th. It should be awesome!
You know what IS awesome??? Employer provided health insurance. We went into Dr. Beck to get tubes put in Parker's ears, and it cost us three grand, our deductible, to get them in. I just got the pre-approval sent over from the doctor from the insurance company, we are paying them about a hundred bucks for this one. It is amazing! LOVE IT! After five years of paying five thousand dollar deductibles for everything under the sun, it is incredible having an insurance that helps out better.
So, the big day! OCTOBER 10th!
I just have to say, for all my Idaho friends, if ever your child needs a pediatrict ear nose and throat doctor, get in to see Dr. Beck at Southwest Idaho ENT. She is incredible. She is the only peds doctor in the area, so she is super hard to get into, but she is amazing. Only crappy part is she is so amazingly awesome in the room, that she always runs HOURS behind. So we sat in the office for about an hour and a half AFTER our appointment before she came in. But once she was in, she looked and it was a no brainer - CLIP THE TONGUE. She said it was one of the tightest she had seen. Also to be cut - both frenulums. The frenulum is that little piece of skin that attaches your lip to your gum, clear up inside your mouth. They are typically way far up above your teeth - but Pax's come down inbetween his two front teeth, hence the large gap teeth! So three clippings will happen on October 10th. It should be awesome!
You know what IS awesome??? Employer provided health insurance. We went into Dr. Beck to get tubes put in Parker's ears, and it cost us three grand, our deductible, to get them in. I just got the pre-approval sent over from the doctor from the insurance company, we are paying them about a hundred bucks for this one. It is amazing! LOVE IT! After five years of paying five thousand dollar deductibles for everything under the sun, it is incredible having an insurance that helps out better.
So, the big day! OCTOBER 10th!
The One With Sun River
The second week of September the fam went and joined up with Eric's parents in Sun River, Oregon. Eric BEYOND LOVES this place. I think he will want to retire there. For everyone that grew up in Boise I could almost compare it with a McCall-type city . . . . only better? Yes, better! Way more locations, way more things to do in general and way more to do with kids. McCall is awesome, but it seems like unless you are there without kiddos, you're pretty limited. Sun River is awesome because you can actually bike EVERYWHERE! It was awesome!
We got up Saturday the 8th and drove up there, taking our dear sweet time, and then didn't drive back until the following Saturday. The kids didn't sleep well - or really at all. So the nights were a little tough, but the day time was spectacularly fun.
And now you can enjoy a mass barage of awesome pictures from our vacation. After our computer crashed a few months back, I'm super into making sure that all of the GOOD pictures are at least online somewhere so we don't lose them again! :)
I love this picture of Pax, just crawling around, stretching out in Burns where we stopped for a rest on the drive in.
Papa took Parker and Preslie to feed the horses apples on one of our many bike rides.
I have never seen so many deer in my life as I did on this trip, and definitely not in as close of proximity as I did here. There was this one time we were on a bike ride and stopped because there were two deer standing in the center of the path. We stopped to look at them and then realized that there were MORE deer - 10 TOTAL TO BE EXACT! Insane! Plus the deer loved our back porch for some reason - actually I know why. Eric's Dad LOVES to put out food for the "wildlife". He puts out nuts for the birds, corn for the squirrels, it makes it awesome because you can sit at the kitchen table and just watch a million animals eat all day long.
Here are Parker and Preslie getting ready to go fishing. LOVE their faces, HILARIOUS!
This picture got quite the comments on facebook, made me laugh super hard. I promise that although she looks like she is terrified, she was actually really excited to go. The kids got tired of saying "CHEESE!" in every picture so we were trying to come up with other things for them to say like "pickles", "Princess"< and I think she was saying "Dragon" in this one.
Here is my proof! Super excited. She just needs her glasses and her "purse" to make her day.
This picture of Parker just looks so GQ - like he should be wearing white shorts and boat shoes sitting on a sailboat somewhere. Just wait, he'll have another picture like this in 20 years.
Pax mostly chilled with Mom and Dad in our boat with his super cute hat Grandma Lewis got him. AWESOME! Love his huge eye balls!
Uncle Jeff was all prepared to come down and meet us to head with us to the High Desert Museum, which we would have loved. But long story short, some awful things happened back in Portland, enough to make me sick and lose hope in humanity, and he was unable to come down. We look forward to meeting him and the girlie friend on a trip they'll be making down here soon. So we all went to the museum together!
How many people have gotten to feed a deer???? Like literally, out of their hands, feed a wild deer?!?! Well, now I can say that our ENTIRE family has. The deer loved our porch and were always hanging out, it didn't take Eric's dad too long before he had them up eating out of his hand. This little mama had twin babies that were so tiny still and she came back almost daily and would eat a million apples, pears, corn, asparagus, celery, carrots . . . . anything we would give her.
In short, we had an awesome time. After that long away it's nice to come home but we had such a blast there it was almost hard to leave!!!
We got up Saturday the 8th and drove up there, taking our dear sweet time, and then didn't drive back until the following Saturday. The kids didn't sleep well - or really at all. So the nights were a little tough, but the day time was spectacularly fun.
And now you can enjoy a mass barage of awesome pictures from our vacation. After our computer crashed a few months back, I'm super into making sure that all of the GOOD pictures are at least online somewhere so we don't lose them again! :)
In short, we had an awesome time. After that long away it's nice to come home but we had such a blast there it was almost hard to leave!!!
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