Dang it!

Rachel tagged me so here it goes...

(This is actually proving tricky for me since most people that read my blog know me pretty well...)

1. When I was in the 11th grade I was failing my

English class (because I always refuse to do my

homework) - I went in to talk to my teacher

and he told me that since I was in the Show

Choir, if I'd sing a song for him he'd give me an

'A'. He figured he was pretty safe since I was so

shy in his class. My fear of singing for him was

lost behind the fear of failing so I did it. I sang

some song and yes, I got an 'A'

2. I one time ate an ant. Just for fun. I wasn't dared or anything. Kamron and I were walking to the park with the kids, there were a ton of ants, I picked one up and ate it.

3. I never once sluffed a class at school. I didn't dare.

4. My dream car is a mini van. Except my kids no longer all fit, I've gotta get something bigger.

5. I auditioned for American Idol in Seattle in 2006. It was the best thing I've ever done. I had to sing a cappella in front of 18,000 people. What an adrenaline rush!

6. If something has the potential of flying or swimming I don't eat it. (this includes eggs) I never liked seafood - and then I was once eating breakfast with my friend Jadee, which included eggs, and her grandpa said something about having a baby bird swimming around in my mouth. That was the end of my egg consumption. And I think the fact that there was a dead parakeet in my freezer for like 3 years (I swear it was at least that long) when I was a kid, kinda did it for me eating any kind of bird.

7. Growing up I always wanted 16 kids. I'm not even kidding. Perhaps that's why I still want two more - cuz at 8 I'm at least half way to 16 right? My name preferences have changed though cuz two of my favorite names used to be Anastasia and Fantasia. (Okay I was like 10 at the time)

Done. Now I tag the only people that I have access to their blogs and since Crystal and Rachel were already tagged we'll go with: Samantha, Jonathan & Jen (yes, both of you), Cari, Shani and since thats only 5, mom, I'm tagging you too - just email me yours -k-?

I must be crazy

So...the title tells it all. And by the time you are done reading this post you will undoubtingly agree with that statement.
You all know I have 6 kids. 3 of them go to school during the days and then I am left with three kids who are three and younger. I do have some things down to a science though. I feed all three of them at 11. They play for a bit and then all three of the little ones take a nap at 1:00. This gives me good nap time, or good reading time, or good get-the-laundry-done time. (As I cannot do this with Oaklee awake because she's a little too helpful if you know what I mean...) We've fallen into a routine since the school year started, and most days I survive without even pulling one hair out.
Until today. BY the end of today I may be bald. I did this crazy thing and posted an ad on KSL to babysit kids in my home during the days. I had a taker. And today I have 5 kids under 4. Yikes!! I watch a 4 year old and a 9 month old... So the ages now are: 4, 3, 1, 9 months, and 3 months. (and the 4 year old doesn't take naps) I was half tempted to keep the older kids home from school just to help out. I have these extra kids from 6 AM to 4 PM everyday. That means when all my kids are home, I now have 8 children in my home. ...and keep in mind, Kamron is still living in Park City. Yep, I'm crazy. And if not, I definitely will be by the end of the day.

Saturday Pastimes

Saturday pastimes at our house include yard-sales (attending them, thats Kamron's favorite) Going to baseball games (Tyson’s) and going to random places like the Monte L. Bean museum at BYU. The Bean museum is a favorite for the kids. Any given Saturday they’d choose to go there over many other places.

Do not let the name fool you, it is not a museum of beans. It is an animal museum. With real animals that have been gutted, stuffed and donated. The displays really are cool. The animals look the same as they would if they were still alive. You get much closer to these animals than you ever would at a zoo. They’re close enough to touch. It’s really interesting looking at all the different species…They have everything from lions, tigers and bears, to giraffes, wolves, and antelope, to fish, butterflies and mice. My favorites: The moose and the ostrich. Why? Because they scare the ever-lovin crap outta Oaklee!! She’ll wander around looking at all the animals. She loves them. She waves to every single one as she passes, but you take her up to the moose or the ostrich and she lets out this “aungh” and pulls back immediately. Its so stinkin funny!! And I’m such a good mom that I specifically take her to those exhibits every time we go! Next time I’ll take the camera…

Just a quick sidenote: If you attend the bean museum (which I highly recommend) avoid the basement. The basement is morbid. This is where the reptiles, the birds and the mice are and whereas displays for these animals could be really cool, they are not because the animals do not look anything close to alive, they are dead and shelves just lying there and half of them are floating in jars of formaldehyde. (wow my spell check tells me I spelled that word right on my first try!!)

I never cease to amaze myself..

This is how Tate went to school today. I didn't notice until he got home. Once again I am mother of the year!

Magnadoodle

Who invented the magnadoodle? He deserves an award. Some days I run a lot of errands. This means packing up the three youngest and taking them with me. Kyndi keeps her little Magnadoodle in the car. It’s a fabulous form of entertainment for a preschooler. This is how it usually goes, she draws a picture and then holds it up for me to look at in the rearview mirror, and then I guess what the picture is. She usually draws pictures of various fruit, so I usually guess those first. I generally get three guesses and then she finally tells me and acts all exasperated because I didn’t figure it out. (Sometimes she acts more like gosh mom how dumb are you?) If its not fruit it usually is something to do with Halloween or else something related to things she has done that day… Today was different. Today she drew animals. Today she drew a llama with a sleeping bag, and then a rhinoceros with a necklace. If she had allowed me one more try, those definitely would have been my next guess.

The picture at the top is the rhino with a necklace.

These three are: a birthday cake (cuz it's Sharli's birthday) and then me with a mustache (how flattering) Then of course Oaklee needed a turn.

2nd and 3rd mistakes of monday

2 other mistakes of Monday and they both include the bookstore.

Mistake number 1 - the bookstore, three kids aged three and under, no carts and books everywhere within the 1 year old's reach. I think that's pretty much enough said on that one. I'll leave the rest to your imagination as I am certain your imagination will not even come close to the disaster that was created.

Mistake number two - telling Kyndi she could choose one book to buy... She immediately found a really cute My Little Pony Book all about a Halloween pumpkin party, "I want this one!" that decision lasted all of 4 seconds until she found a dora one and then a princess one and then a snow white one, then scooby doo, then Little Einsteins, and on and on and on. I think she located more books in a 5 minute period than I even realized they had in that section. And each time she made her 'final decision' she found a different one to replace it. wow, note to self, don't give Kyndi such big decisions, from here on out give her 2 or 3 things to choose from, not 5.2 million.
After about 15 minutes I told her I was leaving the store in 2 minutes and she needed to know which book she wanted by then or she wouldn't be getting one today. She put all the books in her hands onto the little table and said "In that case, I know exactly which one I want!" She ran over to the Halloween display and picked up the My Little Pony pumpkin one. That was her final decision and we paid and left the store. Wow, all of that for the original book she wanted. What's that old adage? ...Like Mother like daughter...

Books, really?

When I was little I remember I HATED reading! That is until my grandma introduced me to the Baby Sitters Club... She had heard that "girls everywhere love them" I finally gave the first one a try and it was an instant success.

Fastforward to now. I have a bigger problem than hating to read. I'm addicted to reading!! But it gets worse than that. I have a gi-normous obsession with books. Not borrowing books, not looking at books, owning books!!

I went to the bookstore today because I needed the next book in my goofy who-done-it mystery series, and that proved to be a BIG mistake.

I walk into the bookstore and instantly I become like a kid in a candy store. I couldn't look at enough books fast enough. I talked myself into going over to get the one book I needed but then soon my attention was stolen away by a book over here and a book over there... Before I knew it I had 30 books in my hands. No joke. But here's the saving grace in that: only two were actually for me, the rest were for all my kids. I love books for myself but I also love finding books for all my kids that they would enjoy. It becomes some kind of adventure for me. It gives me a crazy thrill.

In the end I sorted through my stack of books and told myself I could only get the one for me that I came for. I ended up getting one for Kyndi and one for Oaklee two. But for a bookstore I excercised excellent self control!

Then I got home and sat down at my computer - whoops, somehow my fingers typed 'amazon.com' all by themselves and I found myself perusing hundreds of books at discounted prices. Not good, A book-addict finding discount prices... "4 for the price of 3" that is the deal of a lifetime! I probably clicked 'add to cart' twenty different times at least. Then my danged self control stepped in again and deleted all but 4 items, I paid for 3 got 1 for free. (I told myself these will make great Christmas presents)

Just as I finished my check out process, Tate came home and announced the book fair started today at school and can I please take him? Shoot. Here we go again.

Some people buy too many purses, some too many shoes, for me its books. Man what an addiction.

News flash: I have a new toilet!! The bizarre toilet issues at my house have come to an end. That was an easy fix.

Where are their mothers??

So we have these little neighbor boys that come over everyday to play. There's a 6 year old a 5 year old and a 4 year old. They come over to play with any of my kids that are available.

Today those three boys and Tate were in the backyard jumping on the trampoline. I can hear laughter and occasional arguing and various forms of game playing that little boys do. Soon they start saying "liar liar pants on fire" and then someone else jumps in and says "liar liar you're stupid" then, "liar liar you're an idiot" I'm thinking to myself "wow, these kids don't have very nice mouths and it's getting worse by the second" And then it happens: "Liar liar you're a #@! hole!" What? Did I just hear that? Um who lets their children talk like this? And should I really be letting my kids play with them??? That makes me more than a little nervous. Where are their mothers? And as the mother at this house how exactly do I handle such a situation? I'm just thankful that none of those "liar liar" lines came out of Tate's mouth. Wow.

Wow what a good looking kid. Thats all I have to say on that one.

To dip or not to dip: that is the question

As a child I remember my dad dipping various things in his milk. Most vividly I remember him dipping his graham crackers and teaching us kids the 'correct dipping methods'.

Sharli was obsessed with ketchup, everything had to have ketchup. (we won't mention Sharli's favorite oatmeal topping...right mom?) Jameson tried out pizza dipped in lemonade and as I recall he quite enjoyed it. I'm sure my mom loves anything dipped in chocolate. I like potato chips in mustard and quesadillas dipped in italian dressing (I know, call me crazy... i think that started as a pregnancy thing) A few of the kids enjoyed cheese sandwiches dipped in chocolate milk... I don't remember Sam or Jonathan having any specific interesting food combinations but I do remember Sam preferred broccoli over peanut butter. And Jonathan and I had to have a complete dialogue before we'd even begin to eat our yogurt...

Now I have my own family, they all have their own likes and dislikes but none seem very drastic or even worth mentioning. Except Kyndi. She loves Ranch dressing. She calls it 'rench' in her own little accent which makes it sound more like 'wench' We have burritos she asks for wench, we have pizza or chicken nuggets she wants wench. I think many people have a similar liking for 'wench'. I do not believe however that today's concoction would fancy anyone's tastebuds.

Lunch time at our house consists of everybody rushing to make peanut butter sandwiches... fits of, "Hey I had that first!" and "Pass me the honey" ring out throughout the house and then all is quiet while they chew and enjoy their food. All except Kyndi who soon starts crying. Apparently Peanut butter, jelly, and wench do not have a very good flavor.

I'm such a good mom...

The kids were all playing on the trampoline in the backyard... all of them but the two babies. Oaklee was sitting in the kitchen watching out the sliding glass door and periodically knocking to get the dogs' attention. I decided to open the door a few inches to allow some cool air in the house. Oaklee starts reaching her hand out to touch the dogs. Berklie (the puppy) would lick her hand and she'd squeal and pull her hand back only to stick it out there again a few seconds later. This process went on for a while. Suddenly she started squealing louder. I look over to find the cause and see that she now has her face pushed to the crack and Berklie is licking her face causing her to squeal. Cute (but a little gross) I am debating pulling her away from the door to prevent the spread of dog germs all over her face and then it happens, Oaklee's tongue pops out and licks the dogs face. Now what do I do? Pull her back or grab the camera??? Eh, a little dog breath never killed anyone.

Posessed!

So I previously told you of the case of the vibrating house, well it has progessed to the case of the posessed toilet...

I got in the shower this morning and the floor began to vibrate, I quickly stepped out and flushed the toilet so the vibrations would stop. The toilet flushed all the way then rapidly filled to the brim with water and then flushed itself again and filled to the brim etc etc - it did this 3 times while I stood there watching. What on earth?!?! It wasn't like a normal toilet that sometimes runs or anything it was full out flushing itself!! I think I will cease the use of that toilet until I get the problem fixed. How am I going to fix this problem you ask? Simple. Buy a new toilet.

What is my problem?!?!

All my life I have had quite the paranoia of weevil. This stems from a few rough experiences throughout my early existence. I fear now that this ‘paranoia’ has extended far beyond that and can now logically be titled a ‘phobia’ (though nothing about this phobia is anything close to logical)
Okay so I don’t want weevils in my food, who does? But the dislike of the tiny wormlike critters now prevents me from eating almost anything that does not come from my own home. I cannot eat Chinese because their little restaurants freak me out with the thoughts that weevils may be present, No fast food places, no gas station food (this includes drinks, candy, etc) no food from any associated food store (it has to be Walmart, and maybe Albertsons on a good day) If something has been in the fridge for more than 2 days I cannot eat it. Now, logic tells me that weevils are not in the fridge, but my phobia is not on a logical level. I have done extensive research and I know exactly where weevils come from, how they reproduce, what they feast on etc etc etc, but I can’t calm down on the matter. I want to, but can’t. If neighbors bring home-made cookies over I cannot eat them, what if there are weevil in their house?? Seriously, I need help. I hate this. It seems as if my phobia is in a constant growing state. Not fun. Kamron thinks I’m a total nutcase but weevil plain and simple are not my friend.

The case of the vibrating house...

Let me start by saying, Kamron is a plumber... okay now onto my story

Yesterday (Kamron was home for the weekend) - we were all going about our daily activities and Kamron noticed that there was a loud-ish vibrating sound coming through our bedroom wall. We live in a twin home and he thought perhaps the neighbors were running their washer on high speed or something.

Soon this sound was vibrating the bedroom floor. We could actually feel it vibrating, and next thing we know we can hear the sound downstairs too. At this point it has been going for about 10 minutes. What on earth are the neighbors doing? Kamron told Tyson to go next door to ask them what they are doing to cause such a ruckus (Tyson was to shy to obey this request)

The vibrating gets louder and louder and I suddenly remember the shower doing this vibration thing one time when I turned it off, but only for a few minutes. I tell Kamron "I think its coming from our house, not theirs" He says "how do you figure?" I explain about the shower, he looks at me like I am completely ridiculous and i say, "I'm serious I think its our pipes" He again looks at me like I'm ridiculous.

Now the kitchen floor is vibrating and our house sounds as if it might explode then suddenly my bedroom toilet flushes and the vibration suddenly stops completely. Not our pipes huh? Kamron's the plumber, better believe him. The vibration started up again a little while later, how did we fix it? flushed our toilet. Kamron finally agrees it is our pipes but states he has never heard of such a problem in his life...

Fast forward to this afternoon... I return home from a trip to the dr and to the store to find my house in total vibration mode. I walk upstairs and flush the toilet and then call Kamron. He says he doesn't think anyone at work will know what the problem is or how to fix it cuz it makes no sense. Great, what am I supposed to do all week? Call a plumber?

Thank goodness for the internet - i type "vibrating pipes" into google and lo and behold there are millions of people who have suffered this same dilemma. Apparently it is caused by the toilet's flapper not being able to seal properly so the toilet wants to continue running and therefore causes my pipes to vibrate. AHA!! Our toilet did start running last week when the good ol plumber installed a new flusher-ma-jigger.

So there we have it, my very own plumber not only thought it ridiculous our pipes could possibly be the issue - and proceeds to tell me he has no idea how to fix it and no one else will either - but he, the plumber, in fact caused it himself! Perhaps I should be the plumber at this house from now on. (Don't tell him I said that though)

Sour!!

So i had this ingenious idea the other day... give the kids really sour candy and then take pictures of them eating it. ha ha ha SO that is exactly what i did. I lined them all up in a row on the floor - handed them each a warhead (a very sour piece of candy that makes my jaw hurt just thinking about it) and told them all to put it in their mouth on the count of three... here are the results of my experiment...

14,000 things to be happy about

So I one time owned a book titled 14,000 things to be happy about and I really enjoyed picking it up from time to time to alleviate the blues or stress or whatever there was in my life that day. Well, I lost this book. Solution? I will now keep a daily list of simple life things that make me happy. In doing so I believe I will find the good news on daily life and leave behind the bad… so here we go… The easiest & most obvious ones first:

1. Kamron


2. Dayton


3. Oaklee


4. Kyndi


5. Tate


6. Morrissa


7. Tyson


8. The fact that I am only 2 kids away from my goal of 8 (but then Kamron points out that 9 would be good for our own baseball team) …


9. My brothers and sisters


10. A van that holds *most* of my kids


11. Camera phones so I can take a picture of the crickets in my house and text them to my sister so she can share in my fear of them.


12. Little girls who love to eat lotion
    Tiny toothbrushes


13. Rainy days


14. The smell of rain


15. Having my Christmas shopping done by the first week of October


16. Proper grammar


17. Employment


18. As an adult I can choose white bread over wheat bread at the store


19. A lot of people think I am only 20 years old


20. The looks on people’s faces when they learn I have 6 kids


21. My cousin Jake who calls to check on me from time to time


22. BYU football


23. Freshly painted walls


24. 70 degree weather


25. Music


26. The fact that one day I convinced my younger brother to swallow a coin (dime, nickel, quarter?) to see if M&Ms would come out


27. Gophers


28. Duct tape


29. Little kids pushing all the ‘try me’ buttons at the store


30. Flip flops


31. Funeral potatoes


32. I still have my tonsils and my appendix oh and my wisdom teeth


33. Snowcones


34. Disneyland


35. Morrissa singing full blast with her headphones on


36. Rainbow Brite


37. Parakeets in freezers


38. Penguins


39. Daisies


40. The letter K and the letter Y


41. The song “Its All Coming Back to Me Now” by Celine Dion


42. I can’t swim


43. The funky spelling of my middle name (An)


44. Troll dolls


45. Lite Brites


46. Cool Whip


47. Family Photos


48. Babies that snore


49. Nicknames


50. Bald babies


51. A&W Rootbeer


52. Wikipedia


53. The comical words of 3 year olds


54. fingerprints (and whole handprints) on the sliding glass door


55. 1st grade crushes


56. Kids eating sour candy


57. baby wipes


58. white picket fences


59. ghost shaped placemats


60. temporary tattoos


61. lilacs


62. magnadoodles


63. digital cameras


64. plumbers


65. no need to write up a shopping list, I have Kyndi!

The month that Kamron went away...

I used to have a different blog site - and this blog is from there...

So for those of you who care or want to know… Kamron is gone for the month on a mandatory-stay-at-the-jobsite trip. He’s been plumbing some huge ol’ buildings up in Park City and they decided last friday that the crew will now be working 12 hour days and they’ll have to stay up there monday - friday for the next 4 weeks. My reaction: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!! Hello! Do they not realize that not only do I have six kids to take care of - but two of them are babies???? And when and how exactly did they expect me to go to work?? And biggest of all - are they wanting me to lose my sanity here with no adults and 6 kids all by myself?!?!?!
So it started yesterday and so far we are still alive - although Tyson did get into a tad bit of trouble yesterday for not eating his dinner which made him quite mad at me. That was resolved quickly however by a simple rib-counting session.
Also, the dog got ahold of Kyndi’s shoe (this is especially bad seeing how its a rarity to even be able to find any of her shoes…), Oaklee spilled water all over the floor and then proceeded to slip in it, land flat on her back, look up at me and laugh; Morrissa and Tate walked home from school successfully - no repeats of the first day of school when they got lost and took well over an hour to get home when we only live 3 blocks away; Tate has found a new ‘cute girl’ at school - he told me her name but I crossed my heart - hope to die- stick a needle in my eye, that I wouldn’t reveal her name to anyone; and Dayton cried some pooped some and slept some.
We are now halfway through day two of Kamron stuck in Park City (which by the way, instead of renting them hotel rooms to stay in, their company rented a house for the month that only has 8 beds and 13 men on the crew… figure that one out!!) We seem to be surviving yet again. Tyson will be home in the next 15 minutes, so it is now time that I disctontinue my current post and get to figuring out an afterschool snack which they will all soon be hollering for.

Dayton

This is Dayton Talmage. He was born July 10 (2008) (He's 3 months old) He's my little medical baby... He was born 4 weeks early and had to spend a week in the NICU so his lungs could finish developing. He has since been diagnosed as lactose intolerant - he spent a week in the hospital for pneumonia last month and now he has thrush. Poor little guy. But he's pretty stinkin cute. (and such a good baby) (the fact that Oaklee and Dayton are only 14 months apart was not exactly planned...)

Oaklee

Little Oaklee is only 17 months old. She is hilarious and she knows it! I could go on and on about her! She'll do anything she can to make you laugh. She likes to help with the new baby too - sometimes I think she thinks she's the mom. She was pretty much bald until about 2 or three months ago and now she finally has some hair... Oh she's cute!!

Kyndi

Kyndi Lynne is 3 years old. She says the funniest things sometimes. She is definitely a mommy's girl - she always has to follow me everywhere I go. She absolutely loves anything that has to do with princesses or Dora. She is currently in a ballet - tap dance class. She's the cutest dancer I've ever seen. And Oaklee watches and tries to do everything she does.

Tate

This is Tate. He is 6 and in the 1st grade. He's way too smart and it boggles my brain a little. He's very helpful to his younger sisters and tries teaching Kyndi the things he learns at school. He recently informed me that there is a cute girl in his class but I crossed-my-heart-hope-to-die-stick-a-needle-in-my-eye that I wouldn't tell anyone her name...

Morrissa

Morrissa is 10. She is in the 5th grade. She loves dance and cheerleading. When she is with her friend they are always making up dances to songs they listen to. She is in a hip-hop dance class and loves it.

Tyson

Tyson is our oldest, he's 12 and in the 7th grade. He loves baseball and harrassing the younger kids.

He's a pretty good helper around the house.