Updates

Jon's surgery went well. The doctor said that Jon's was as bad as you can get. He's tired, but not in too much pain. He's pretty bruised and swollen. He can't breathe really well yet, but he's not bleeding as much today. The operating rooms were backed up, so we were up there about 2 hours later than I thought we would be. THANK YOU Dad and Shane for watching the kids for 8 hours!!!

I've decided to try and hold off on potty training until the kids go back to school. It's too hard having kids in and out all day long and Jenna gets distracted. Also, with Jon needing help, it's hard. Thanks to everyone for tips though! I can't wait to try some of them and see if we can't get rid of these diapers. Jenna took her diaper off the other day and went on the rug.

I found another stupid snake in the yard yesterday! It was a baby and Kristen went over to it and it tried to strike her. I HATE snakes! I can't decide if we have a nest in our yard or if the neighbor does, since 2 of the 3 were found right next to the fence. Yuck!

Doorbell Ditching and Other Stuff

So I finally caved and went doorbell ditching with Kendall. I told him the ONLY way I would go is if we made cookies and secretly placed them on the porch, rang the doorbell, and then ran. We hit 4 houses in the neighborhood and didn't even get caught! Kendall had so much fun that I think he went to one or two more houses and didn't even take cookies--they were friends though. I guess this is the age where doorbell ditching is fun.

Jon is having surgery tomorrow morning. He has a severely deviated septum (nose) and is finally having that fixed. The dr called it malformed and laughed when he looked at it--he said it's one of the worst he's ever seen. Jon will be off work all of next week. After that *sigh* EVERYONE goes back to work/school! It's really been a fun second summer, but it will be nice to get back into the swing of things.

Camping Trip

Last weekend, our ward had a campout about an hour away. We had a really fun time! There was a sand volleyball court, a zip line, and lots of places to explore.

There were about 15 families up there and the kids all found other kids to play with. This is our first (and probably only) camping trip of the year--we had tin foil dinners and roasted s'mores with everyone. The ward provided a yummy scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, hash brown breakfast.

The kids all slept like logs, even though it got a bit chilly. Jon and Kendall got up early and there were 2 big moose across the road from our tent.

Wonder Woman---NOT!!!

I feel like I'm trying to be Wonder Woman and it's not working very well. Kendall told me that he hates being home because we never do anything fun with him. Hmmm....I thought making him do chores was pretty fun, but I guess I was wrong. Seriously though, I got thinking about it and I really feel that I need to spend more one-on-one time with each of the kids. I came up with a brilliant plan! Well, let me rephrase that--it's well-meaning idea, but very time consuming. I decided to spend one hour a day with each child doing whatever they want to do (within reason). It has taken up at least 4 hours of my day. I didn't realize how much I do in those 4 hours. We decided to do it first thing in the morning, so that they can play with friends or relax after heir turn or after lunch. So...breakfast and lunch dishes aren't getting done until mid-afternoon; laundry takes me well into the evening; errands have to be ran in the middle of the day (with a tired or sleeping Jenna); if I don't get up early enough, I don't even have my shower or make-up on or even get dressed until afternoon. I feel like I hardly have time to get on the computer anymore. Anyway...we've had a lot of fun. I've played countless games of Pomp and Tag; dolls; fairies; Star Wars; Legos; read many, many books; and stuff like that. Kendall wanted me to spend my time with him toilet papering and doorbell ditching, but I am not quite up for that. I am just really grateful that I don't have 12 kids--then NOTHING would ever get done.

Help!

I feel really dumb for asking for help, but I'm desperate! I have successfully potty trained 3 kids, but I cannot manage to get Jenna done. Maybe I just can't remember what I've done. She wets her diaper and immediately takes it off herself. The problem is, she went on the floor once last week and it never bothered her. She just came to tell me to clean it up. I sit her on the potty countless times a day and she sits herself on there, but she has NEVER once gone in the potty. It's always right before or after. I've tried to offer rewards and I have books and magnets for her to play with while she sits there, but it's not working. Last night I was so fed up with her taking her diaper off that I threatened to duct tape the tabs closed. Fortunately for her, I couldn't find the duct tape. Does anyone have any good ideas??? If so, please let me know!

PS I did put this on the edit shelf for awhile, but I really am getting desperate. Thanks (Teresa) for the tip!

Kristen's Wish

Notice anything different about Kristen?
She has been wishing and hoping for about 3+ years to get her ears pierced. She has begged and pleaded, but Jon told her she has to wait until she's 12. Last weekend, she was bugging me about it and I told her that I had no problem with it. She asked Jon again and he told her if she asked him ever again, he wouldn't let her. I was talking to him later that night and said that it was funny that Kristen keeps bugging me about it when I don't have a problem with it because I was 8 years old when I got mine pierced. He said, "You were 8?!" He thought I was 12 when I had mine done. So he decided to let her get them pierced. I took her in this morning and did it! She didn't even flinch or cry. She is soooooo happy that her wish came true! Oh, I guess I should mention that the pictures are hard to see, but if you click on them, they are enlarged; just in case anyone wanted to get a good look. :)

Rockets

For pack meeting last night, the boys got to launch the rockets they made. Each boy was given a kit and had to build and paint/decorate their rocket. It was a lot of fun! They loved to chase the rockets as they were coming down and even the siblings got in on the action.

Jarren and Jenna wanted to help their daddy hand out awards. I remember when Kendall used to do that when Jon was in Scouts.

Swimming Lessons

The kids had swimming lessons this summer and they really enjoyed them. They took for two sessions--July and August. Kendall is in the 5th level and is really strengthening his strokes and dives. He enjoys the breast stroke the most.
Kristen is in the 3rd level and is doing really well with the American crawl.
Jarren is in the 2nd level and is doing sooo much better! He actually puts his face in the water now and doesn't cling to his teacher.
Their last class is on Thursday night and I think they're kind of sad. Now we'll just need to make sure and swim some this winter so they don't lose it all.

Jarren's First Day of Kindergarten Part II

Funny story about Jarren's first day....Kristen is so excited to pick him up and walk him home. I went over it very carefully yesterday morning, where to meet him and all that. Jenna didn't nap so I decided to walk over to make sure they hooked up. I found Jarren, but no sign of Kristen. We started walking home and got more than halfway there when Kristen came running around the corner. She went home and got a drink and all that and then realized, "OH NO!!! JARREN!!!" She'd forgotten all about him! Good thing I went.

Jarren had a very good first day. His teacher has bees all over and they made a picture of a bee. There's a girl from his preschool in his class, so he played with her at recess. But when I ask if he's excited about going back, he says no. It took him 2 weeks to go to preschool alone and 7 1/2 months to actually like it. I'm hoping things go a little faster this time. Oh, and he said he wanted to start school when he's 11, but I'm sure when he's 11, he would change it to 17. What a kid!

Jarren's First Day of Kindergarten

Jarren has been really excited to start school, especially after meeting his teacher (she lives just around the corner from us). He was excited all morning, but as we started walking over to the school, he started to get really nervous (you can even tell from the pictures--one before we left and one when we got there). We got there and he had a death grip on me. All of the kids lined up, but he wouldn't. They went in and he wouldn't go. He told me, "I don't want to play outside--I don't know anyone!" and "Mom, I want to go home. I'll go to school when I'm 11." The teacher told me, "Go--he'll be fine." and took him. He was on the verge of tears, but I left him. It made me feel kind of sad to leave him there sad. I think he's got some anxiety issues, but knowing him, once he gets to know the routine and the kids, he'll be fine and happy again.