Better Late...

I so wish I had remembered to blog last night, because our Family Home Evening was one for the books and there's no way I'm going to remember it all now that an entire day has passed. I'm going to try, though.
Picture if you will Isaac running around like a crazy man, Spencer, Jr. asleep on his daddy's lap, and Audrey drawing pictures of, who knows what, while sitting next to me. Fortunately, after we sang and prayed, things calmed down a bit. We talked about Moses and the burning bush and there were several good comments made after I asked what they thought Jesus came to tell Moses. None of which I can remember now. Spencer wrote them all down since he's giving a talk about how our family is applying the ward goals, but he's downstairs trying to get the kids to stay in bed.
I've also had some great Audrey moments over the past few days that I've forgotten to write about. We've started locking our door at night, because we somehow end up with 2 extra bodies in our bed. Well, tonight Audrey and Isaac came back upstairs while I was folding laundry and since Spencer was at Mutual, I had the door open. Audrey volunteered to put her clothes away, but she wanted to make sure she'd be able to get back in, so she made me "pinky squared." I'm pretty sure that means more than your typical pinky swear.
She was doing something a couple days ago and wanted to make sure that her "nickles" weren't going to get scraped up.
And finally, she has made up her own language. She was talking to me yesterday and threw some word in to the conversation that I had never heard before. I asked her what it meant and, without hesitation, she had a definition. Since then, she's been throwing all sorts of crazy words around. She makes me laugh, that's for sure. She makes me cry, too, but I'm trying to focus on the good and there's definitely plenty of it.

KaBlam!!!

So, I've obviously been a slacker the past couple days. In my defense, it has been a little crazy, though. You see, I'm a little bit, or a lotta bit, of a dork.
Spencer had Friday off, so we spent most of the morning running around Provo getting things for his Klondike camp out and the finishings of our dining room. I dropped him off at home around 11:30 so he could get his math final finished up and I headed to Orem to drop some food off for my sister's work party and pick Audrey's glasses up. After we picked the glasses up, Audrey and Isaac were begging to get some food from my sister, so I obliged. While they were in getting grub, I waited in the parking lot in a spot reserved for someone else, but was assured by my sister that it would be fine since it was Friday and they weren't supposed to be working that day. As I waited, a car pulled out across the parking lot and since I was paranoid, I went to park in the spot they pulled out of. Just as I turned the car off, my sister came out with the kids. I was very careful not to hit the car next me, got to where I could see the kids clearly, and began waving excitedly toward them. The next thing I knew, I had slammed into a cement barrier. So, I backed up and my entire bumper fell off. That's right, the whole thing. To top it all off, many of my sister's co-workers came out to check it out. Not my brightest shining moment.
Now, I've gone over this moment several times in my head. How are you in such a place that you don't see a cement barrier.? Looking back, I still have no answer. A few funny kid moments have come from it, though. Audrey and Isaac saw the whole thing, so as I was telling another sister about it, Audrey became very animated as she reinacted the accident. There's no way I could adequately retell as she did, so just use your imagination.
On the way home, Audrey said 3 or 4 times, "Mom, I'm so sorry that happened." To which I replied, "Oh, Audrey, it's okay. It's not your fault." And she said, "Oh, I know. But, I'm still sorry you did that." The next words out of her mouth were, "Mom, I bet the people in their cars are embarrassed by our car." Yes, Audrey, I'm sure they were. I know I was. And when I picked Spencer, Jr. up from school, he looked at the car and said with a laugh, "Wow, mom! That's a bad one." Yes son, it is. It guess they know more now than ever just how human their mom is.
I missed church again today since Isaac and Michael are both sick, but hopefully all the kids will be well by next week, so I can become active again. Spencer did say it was pretty quiet since he and Jr. were the only two there. I'm glad one of us had some peace. :)

Do My Best

When I got the calling to be the Bear Asst. last July, I was super intimidated. First of all, I have never been a scout, surprising, I know, so I had no idea what a Bear even was. The only things I know about scouts were learned from going to Pack Meetings with my brothers. (Who pays attention then?) Anyway, the ward boundaries changed in November and I was suddenly the Bear Leader. Whoa!!!
Well, I'm finally getting the hang of it and am liking it way more than I thought I would. We had Pack Meeting tonight and it was pretty stinkin' fun. We got to make paper airplanes, yell a lot, and watch grown men try to whistle with crackers in their mouths. What other calling in the church is there that allows you to act like an 8-10 year old kid and get away with it? So, even though I was scared at first, I'm really liking it and the challenges it brings.

There's No Place Like Home

When Spencer and I lived in WA and AZ and would come to UT for a visit, I would always refer to it as home, because I think home is where your family is. Of course it was nice to feel adult and live on our own, but I'm so thankful to be back HOME!!
As I mentioned in my last post, Audrey is really sick. She was up most of the night last night with a pretty high temp. and woke up this morning throwing up. She was so sweet last night, though. She kept telling me between groans that she loved me and even threw out one time that I am a star! Pretty cute, right?!
As I was getting out of bed way too early this morning, she asked where I was going. As I told her, she begged me not to go. "Please mommy, please stay here with me." I should add here that Spencer ended up on the floor, because I was sandwiched between Audrey and Isaac, so he was the bear that fell out when we all rolled over. Anyway, Audrey was so hot and I felt like a water bed exploded all over me, but I just couldn't resist her request. About an hour later, the barfing began. She threw up probably 5 times in 2 hours. This may sound strange at first, but I'm really thankful it was Audrey with the barfs, because she will do everything in her power to make it to the toilet, so we didn't have one mess to clean up. (Ah, the simple pleasures.) I don't know how she has such great control.
I got her in to the doctor at 10 and found out that she has an ear infection and a virus. The ear infection is causing the fever and the virus is making her throw up. Thank heaven for medicine, though, because she managed to keep the antibiotic and the Motrin down and has been a different kid since her fever broke at about 3 this afternoon. She was like a kid in a candy store at dinner. I don't remember her ever eating like that. Even after dinner was over, she raided the fridge for all the veggies she could find. Veggies? What 5 year old scours the fridge for veggies?
Amidst all this, Spencer's mom called, a couple of my sisters called, and my mom stopped by to see how she was doing. And to top it all off, my mom took Isaac home with her, so I could get the kitchen clean with Audreys' help. (Spencer is at BYU tonight.) It's such a blessing to be home again! (Hence, the title.) It makes me wonder how I ever got by in AZ while Spencer traveled so much. We had great friends that would sometimes call and invite us over and my amazing parents drove the 14 hours at a moments notice once when I was having a pregnant moment, but nothing compares to being just down the street. It's one of those blessings amidst a trial. One of the tender mercies. I'm thankful that Heavenly Father sent my family to be my guardian angels today. What would I ever do without them?!

Kids, kids, kids, and more kids!!

So, Audrey is still sick. In fact she's gotten worse as the day has progressed. I'm pretty sure it's an ear ache/cold, but boy, oh boy, is she grumpy and super whiny!! She's had a fever most of the day and just been miserable. She's spent most of the day just laying around, which got to her at about 10 this morning. I really feel for her, but this past hour has been one for the books. She won't go to bed, because she doesn't see the point since she won't be going to school tomorrow.
In the meantime, Isaac is up as well. He doesn't ever like to go to bed (when do we grow out of that?) so he does everything he can think of to get out of it. He even prays that we'll let him sleep in our bed. He must have a lot of faith, too, because he ends up there way more than he does his own bed. Hopefully that won't last much longer, either.
Anyway, Isaac potty trained a couple months ago, but we haven't quite gotten the unders back on after the deed is done, so he runs around commando quite often. He's been doing this tonight since I was putting laundry away and trying to get Audrey and Spencer to bed, so his nudity was my last priority. Well, that sent Audrey over the edge. She says, in her best disgusted voice, "Isaac, go get dressed. You are sicking me out." To which Isaac replies, "No I not."
This conversation continued for a few minutes until I finally helped Isaac get the Superhero Squad back on.
It's a really good thing this comic relief came when it did, too, because I was nearing the breaking point. You know that point, when you've asked a child to do the same thing at least 9 or 10 times, but all your really doing it exercising your vocal chords. With all that vocal exercise I do every day, I should be the worlds greatest opera singer.
Heavenly Father must really love my kids, because if it hadn't been for all the sicking out around here, there could have been real trouble.

Super Slacker

I've been feeling extra guilty for not blogging more often. (Can I say more often when it's been too long to remember my last post?) Audrey has a cold, so we stayed home from church today and one of our Sabbath activities was to watch Mormon Messages. One of them was President Eyring talking about writing in his journal every day no matter what. If an apostle who is surely busier than I am can take the time, then I certainly have no excuse. These are the times in my life that I'm sure I'll look back on and smile. (People in the grocery store remind me of this often.) Even though there are days like today when I'd like to cry, hopefully they'll be memories I can laugh at later.
Isn't it amazing how quickly life changes? Just a few months ago, I was playing Army wife on my own and now Spencer is home all day, every day. How lucky am I?! I hope to never take him for granted. He is such an amazing man and I don't know how I ever got along without him. Hopefully I'll never have to find out again, because I know which I like better. Being a "single parent" is the pits!!
So, here is the beginning of my being a good blogger. I was going to say again, but I just couldn't feel good about that. One day at a time, right?!

Zucchinis in A Defected Grave

Today has been a particularly funny kid day. Each one of the kids, with the exception of Michael, of course, has had their "Kids Say the Darndest Thing" moment. I'll start with Audrey, because her's was the funniest, I think.

She and Mom were sitting downstairs talking and Audrey says, "Grandma, I can't wear Zucchinis. When I was at Seven Peaks, my Zucchini gave me a rash." To make this even more funny, I wasn't sure at first what they were talking about and it wasn't until hours later that I got the joke. Also, Audrey was not amused and got quite upset that we were laughing, so we have to do it secretly.

Then, just after Spencer, Jr. got out of the bath and got dressed, he walked into the Kitchen and said, "Mom, I think the bath has made my foot defected." He thought it was pretty rude that we were laughing about it.

About an hour later, Spencer, Jr. was sitting at the table reading the "Friend" when Audrey walked in and looked over his shoulder at "Our Creative Friends." Audrey asked Spencer, Jr., "Are you going to draw a picture of you and dad?" To which he replied, very matter-of-factly, "Audrey, that's a picture of Adam and Even in the Sacred Grave." I had to leave so I could laugh.

Thanks for kids that bring a whole lot of comedy to life!!