Year in Review: September-December

September

I visited my grandma in the hospital and cried for hours because she didn't know who I was and it broke my heart to see her in that state of mind. We had fun with some strong air blowing tubes. The kids made lots of funny faces while blowing their hair around.

We went to the State Fair and the kids loved the petting zoo. That's where I fell in love with a puppy and tried giving Mike my own puppy eyes to get it. My car froze up several times on the way to Sioux Falls giving us zero cold air when we really wanted it.
I played with a snapping turtle with my bare foot, not knowing it was a snapping turtle. I was thankful it didn't bite me when I learned how dumb I was for doing that. Volleyball season was under way and the girls were so excited. My cousin got his thumb ripped off in a farm accident, but had it successfully reattached. We had lots of sick kids and I had lots of crabby days.

October

Jayden decided he really hated taking medicine. We attended a wedding. The kids ate lots of chocolate at the wedding. We pulled bushes out of our landscaping and trimmed the tops of the hedges.

I dealt with pilot cars on a daily basis and became so annoyed with them I started taking their picture. We all went to the Hobo Day parade and met up with my cousin and her family and my mom and Craig. It was really cold. The kids ended up getting their picture in the paper.

I made Taco Soup for the first time and it was delicious. I then posted the recipe with pictures on my blog at friends' request. The kids all went to the doctor. Two kids ended up getting glasses, but Joseph lost his within a week and never found them again. Devin had evidence of eating chocolate.

We got new bedroom furniture and a new king size bed. The kids were very sick with the flu and only 3 kids went trick or treating on Halloween. Jayden ended up getting an infection in the scar from his central line causing a late night emergency room trip.

November

I tried finding making my blog private, but ran into many issues with that. I found myself sitting on the toilet and blogging one too many times. We celebrated Joseph's birthday.

On very short notice, I decided to tear the carpet out of Devin's room because it had a terrible odor to it. That ended up being quite the project. Mike spent many days and hours in the field helping his dad on the farm.

Jayden started pooping in the tub on a daily basis and usually it was when Mike wasn't home, so I had to deal with it. I found myself mesmerized by the mirrored landscape.

I found out my employer received an expansion grant which means I have a good chance of getting to Brookings to work. We fell in love with Stewie at the Brookings Humane Society and brought him home as another member of the family.

We hung Christmas lights outside and cleaned the yard up. The kids picked apples up off the ground for hours. I went shopping with Mike on Black Friday, then came down with a terrible cold for the next 3 weeks. We celebrated Thanksgiving with family in Arlington.

December

We went to the kids Christmas programs. We got stuck in Dairy Queen parking lot in a rut. We made several batches of cookies to find them flatter than pancakes.

Shawndra, Devin, and Mike all had birthdays within a few days of each other. We had cake to celebrate all birthdays.

We had a huge snowstorm blizzard over Christmas causing Mike to work 12-15 hour days. Several celebrations were postponed. I made soup with my dad for the first time. I continue to wait on the dreaded phone call of my grandma's passing. I find out I am coming to Brookings to work for sure, starting in February.

Year in Review: May-August

May

We took the kids to the zoo in Sioux Falls and took over 300 pictures, managing to get a decent family picture. Then we took some more pictures with the camera resting on an electrical box and the wind caught it causing the camera to fall while still taking pictures.I faced the reality that Shaylee and Jayden were both likely going to have surgery the same day. Then a few weeks later, we found out the cause to Shaylee's stomach problems were due to something that didn't require surgery.

We woke up one morning to find blue paw prints all over the counter. The culprit was a kitten with a blue paw from walking through the wet paint.

Shaylee graduated from D.A.R.E. I gave a lesson on Twitter on how to use Twitter for the sole reason of Jayden having surgery the next day. I swore I would never have Twitter. Jayden went into surgery to have his Mic-key button removed.

When he woke up we had another shock of our lives. The surgeon came to visit with us about the size difference in his legs, which we had already noticed. We were told after numerous drawings, phone calls, and visits that as long as he keeps using his leg and it keeps growing in length, not to worry.

Jayden moved up to a twin bed, instead of his toddler bed. We spent a day at the lake, the cats killed birds, and I had strange phone calls with random people.

June

In June we got mass amounts of rain, flooding our street. Jayden's tantrums continued to get worse. We talked about doing some brush therapy on him during OT. I had a huge rummage sale, the girls started softball, and I went to Washington DC for a week to a National Conference. The very hour I arrived in DC, there was a major fatal accident on the Metro that caused my entire family to worry about my safety. Mike and I traded the van off and got a suburban.

July
We spent the 4th of July at the lake enjoying the water, family and good friends. I experienced some medical problems that required many tests and some very expensive medication. We were quite surprised at the results of everything, which I never did disclose to my bloggy world. The kids enjoyed having the pool on the deck with the slide in it.

The kids played with GOOP for the first time and became addicted to how fun it was to play with. Joseph especially liked it on his head.

We redid our deck, which was a huge process of sanding, replacing boards and painting. My step-mother almost killed me on the highway coming home one day.

August

The girls finished up their season of softball. We found mold and a plant growing in the girls room in their carpet and had to move everything out to shampoo in there. I continued to take lots of pictures of nature and things I found pretty. I bought Jayden underwear and took pictures of him in a pair, even though he wasn't ready. We celebrated Shaylee and Dalton's birthday. I made up the word tunaie. I convinced Shaylee to play the flute in band. The kids started school and Devin colored on her wall in black permanent marker. Mike experienced a welding burn to his eyes and there was a bomb threat in Volga.

Year in Review: January-April

January

I started out the year making two resolutions. I swore I would lose the extra body fat, just as I say I will do every year. And secondly, I was going to maintain my Project 365, which is where I take pictures every day and blog about it. I realized quickly into the project it was going to be a lot of work.

I received some Sage and Cinnamon from Jordan from a family I see here in Madison. It's not the same spices as here, but this is what they put in their tea.

I encountered some very nasty driving conditions and seen many cars in the ditch on my adventures home from Madison.
While in search of things to take pictures of, I found crazy ice and snow sculptures. I have yet to decide what this one actually is.
I also found apartments that are built in the ground, except for the door and roof, which are above ground. And I was involved in a 4 car accident by a very crazy driver on local streets with my boss.


February

We got new furniture. The first stuff I hated, which is what you see here and the second set I loved and we kept. Jayden turned 2 and we spent the weekend at the Ramada in Sioux Falls. The kids had a blast.

My best friend lost her house and most of her personal belongings. I helped her take Inventory of all of their stuff. It was cold with holes being burned through the walls and obviously no heat. We all put on Sean's smoky smelling socks over ours to try to keep our feet warm.
I also acquired a rock chip in my windshield that was bigger than a quarter.

March

I started realizing what a great pictures Shaylee could take when she got a hold of my camera and snapped pictures at any given chance. I received my diploma from SDSU in the mail, making it feel so official to be done with school.

I washed and dried my kitchen curtains for the first time and realized after I hung them up that they had shrunk immensely.

We had another appointment in Sioux Falls with the GI doctor and went home to put Jayden back on the feeding pump after not using it for more than 8 months. Shaylee made an awesome Covered Wagon for school with much help from Mike. Jayden fell in love with my pink exercise ball and I was glad someone was getting use out of it because I sure wasn't. I also stumbled upon a restaurant that is similar to a hospital. I became more honest with myself on my blog and our heating element went out in our water heater.

April

We attended the boys' spring concert and also brought home two little kittens who we ended up naming Macie and Allie.

The weather warmed up and I climbed up on the roof to clean out the gutters. The kids picked up leaves that had been left on the ground all winter. We went to an Easter Egg Hunt and Jayden threw himself down in the middle of the hunt to have a tantrum. We transferred Jayden out of his crib into a toddler bed made from his crib. A wild turkey came into our yard and was walking all around letting me take pictures of it.
Devin finally got a big girl bike that we had saved from when Shaylee was little. She was thrilled.
Shaylee got very sick with stomach aches and had to see lots of specialists. It ended up being treated with some over the counter medicines after many doctor visits.

still here

I'm still here. I just haven't been much in the blogging mood lately. Lots of things are changing in the new year though. I'm finally moving to Brookings with my job and am very excited about that. No more 35 minute commute one way.

I'm also still waiting for the call about my grandma. Although, I understand it is coming very soon. Her temperature is up to 102 and her color is changing. Tonight could be the night. I've shed some tears. Wondering if I should have gone to see her again. But she wouldn't have a clue I'm there. I just hope I don't regret this later.

My cousin had her baby today. He was a big baby boy, weighing in at 9 pounds 13 ounces! Wowzers! My uncle cracked me up though by saying the baby is already wearing a size 1 diaper and is walking around the hospital. LOL. The baby doesn't have a name yet.

I'm ready to tackle my tree and get it put away. Seems every year after Christmas I'm ready to put it away right away, but this year, I just haven't gotten it accomplished yet.

I'll be back soon...maybe in a better blogging mood. For now, it's time to put my jammies on and veg out for a bit before bed.

Christmas or what should have been

UPDATED:
My dad and Mary were able to get plowed out and Christmas happened! It was a wonderful evening and I'm so thankful everyone could be together. Mike even got home after another 14 hour day, just in time to eat. :)

ORIGINAL:
Christmas has come and gone and the Blizzard of 2009 has started to leave our vicinity. Or at least I hope so. I have become all too familiar with how to run the snow blower, which I have never done in the past. I have also learned what it's like to pretend like Christmas Eve is just a regular day.

Or at least until my husband came in from a 15 1/2 hour day plowing. Then we quickly opened presents and sent the little ones off to bed. Christmas Eve was supposed to be the day to celebrate with homemade soup and dumplings, but due to the weather, it was canceled. Instead, we had frozen fish sticks and fruit.

Christmas Day was almost canceled and probably should have been, but thankfully my mom and Craig live on a busy road that leads straight to the HWY. So they made it. Volga was tricky and they got stuck numerous times trying to get out when we were done, but did make it back to Brookings. We did enjoy one of the best tasting turkey's I think I've ever had. It was so tender and so full of flavor. Everything we ate was delicious.

Today, we were supposed to try our homemade soup and dumplings Christmas again, but from the sounds of it, that won't be happening either. My dad and Mary are still waiting for the plow to come to the lake and plow their road. So far, nothing.

My husband has been working many, many, many hours plowing this Christmas break. Enough to where it really hasn't felt much like Christmas to me. Bah Hum Bug.

I'm hoping to go to Wal-Mart tomorrow. That will probably seem like a wonderful vacation by the time I get there.

Here's to hoping this weather settles down, the wind fades, and the stars appear.....

coming to Brookings

I had a transition interview yesterday and was informed that I will be coming to Brookings. My employer has decided to add 3 additional positions that are identical to mine in three towns, one of which is Brookings. The first or second week in February I will be employed in Brookings. It will sure be nice to be close to home again!

many lessons learned

Lesson learned: Don't wait until a few days before Christmas to buy your decorating sugars and such for cookies because they will be sold out.

Lesson learned: Look in cupboard before going to the store to make sure you don't already have above mentioned sugars.

Lesson learned: Baking soda becomes bad before it actually expires, causing extremely flat cookies.

Lesson learned: Check your pockets before washing and drying your clothes.

Lesson learned: If the cats come upstairs to drink the dogs water, it means the cats water downstairs is empty.

tantrum in a tutu

There's just something about a 2 (almost 3) year old throwing a tantrum in a tutu that makes it not quite so bad.

But if he throws a tantrum when he's 20 in a tutu then that well...

we'll just leave it at that.

my grandma

Tonight I was informed of some bad news that will be coming. It's just a matter of time. My grandma who has been in the nursing home for quite a few years has taken a turn for the worse, if that is even possible.

She doesn't eat anything, she only drinks and not much. I was told there were questions asked of the nurses about the liquids she drinks. The heat was put on the nurses with these questions, but it was relayed to me that when she stops drinking, she will pass away 7-10 days later. Of course this isn't a guarantee, but it's a very real possibility. Today, she drank fluids.

It's time for my grandma to go to heaven. Her life on Earth has been long and wonderful, but it's time for God to take her home and it's time for her to be reunited with grandpa.

I can't help but be sad knowing that her passing is coming...even though I know it's better for her. It's the selfish side of me that seems to take this hard. Everyone knows it's time for grandma to go. But that doesn't make it any less sad for me now.

My grandma doesn't know anybody and hasn't for a while now. The last time I seen her, I cried for hours as I sat by her bed. She had no clue who I was.

This time of year makes it especially hard. Knowing that the phone call could come at any point. Knowing that it could happen on Christmas. Even though I know she'll be so much better in heaven, I feel like it could make or break the holiday. It will be sad and she will be missed.

I have many great memories of my grandma. Those I will share at a different time. Right now, I can't, the time doesn't feel right.

Every time I see my dad calling, I get a gut feeling inside, like is this the phone call. I have expected to hear the news for several months now. Dad Cell Calling. I always answer and so far it hasn't been that call. But tonight, I learned I shouldn't be shocked or surprised when the call comes. Because it will.

tasty, but sad cookies

I've had some butter sitting out on the counter for about a week now waiting to be used for cookies. Well, today I finally decided to make some simple chocolate chip cookies. Next weekend I will start making holiday goodies for Christmas. So if anyone has a good roll out sugar cookie recipe, I would love for you to share it with me!

The cookies are good, but could someone please tell me why they are so cotton-picking thin? I used the correct ingrediants, nothing is expired, but they still are flat! The only thing I can think of is the butter was too soft?
In all seriousness, how do you make cookies that are fluffy or have more depth to them? Because my cookies today sure look sad.

memories

Have you ever noticed some memories are so easy to remember and other memories just fade off in the distance? Do you remember any very vivid memories from when you were a small child or perhaps a memory from later years that you can't seem to shake from your memory?

I can recall being a young child, maybe 3 or 4 years old, and heading down the steep stairs of our orange house. My mom always took her shower downstairs and she would carry my bowl of cereal down for me to eat while she was showering. Except that day, my mom fell down the stairs and landed at the bottom in a curled up fetal position. I still remember her whimpering and remember the look on her face.

Did you know that it is impossible to actually remember anything before the age of 3? Chances are if you swear you remember something from those early years it is really the stories or pictures you have been exposed to.

I also remember being around 3 years old and having my appendix rupture. I don't remember the pain, but I do remember running around the house. I ran from my room, to the front door, to my mom and dad's bed, and what seems like circles. Everything else I remember from that horrific experience is what my parents or grandparents told me and the few pictures I have seen. I can also remember because of the 5 inch scar on my abdomen.

But why is it the memories we don't want to remember are the ones that are the clearest? That may sound strange, but for me it's true. There are many days when I can be eerily reminded of something scary or something that spooked me many years ago. I find myself looking around corners or in places where I imagine someone could be hiding or watching me just to find nobody is there.

Memories can be created anywhere at anytime. They can create different emotions. Some memories are even brought to the surface when you are back in that same place again. I just find memories something I think often about, whether it's something I come across and go back in time, or it's a new memory.

Do you have any memories from a long time ago that are clear to you?

Happy Birthday Mike

Tonight was a milestone in our house. My husband celebrated another anniversary of his birth. We had some Papa Murphy's pizza and ended with some ice cream cake from Dairy Queen and last, birthday presents.

We made lots of silly faces and took pictures of silly moments. After a busy week of birthday's, we finally get a break within our household until February. I did mention the break is only in our house because my sister is turning 29 for the second time...ahem...if you know what I mean, on Saturday.

wordless wednesday

a bit annoyed

I find myself feeling a bit annoyed tonight. I haven't been able to put a finger on it exactly. I feel it could be the challenges of raising children, or maybe it's the weather, or maybe it's the fact that I'm overweight and I hate it, or maybe it's the changes coming with my job.

Either way, I feel a bit annoyed.

Maybe I should use the word bothered instead. If I say I feel a bit bothered, does that sound better? Maybe, maybe not.

Either way, I feel a bit annoyed.

I have been officed in the same house now since I started my job a year ago this past August. In fact, other Family Advocates have been officed in this same house for the past 11 years. But now the time has come where my job is vacating that office. I knew it was coming because I had heard little pieces of this task in previous months, maybe warmer months. However, now it's not so warm, and I find myself a bit annoyed.

I am employed with a great job, a job that I love. But something I don't like is the upcoming move out of my office into a different place. Right now, my office is housed in a 3-bedroom house and is packed full from top to bottom with toys and resources. In simpler terms, it looks like a preschool in every room and it is safe for children who are under 3 years old to come there. It's a great house, a warm house, it's "Val's House". Well at least that's what my little ones call it when they come to my house.

But either way, I feel a bit annoyed. I have had to ask my family and friends to move me out of my office. I was told end of November I would need to be out by December 31st. I don't have a problem with that. What I seem to be bothered by is the fact that I had to ask my husband and my dad to help me move.

Isn't it odd that my family and friends have to help move a business that I don't own? I am merely an employee who reported to work for the past year in this home, but now find myself largely responsible to get it packed and get it moved.

My boss has been wonderful, making phone calls, cleaning out storage sheds, and just having open ears for me to vent to. She is going to play a big part in this move too and will be there to help us move. I am grateful for that.

I am anxious for this move to be complete and for the stress of this move to vanish. For now, I still feel a bit bothered. Yes, bothered sounds better.

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I am not completely obsessed with "center" alignment. I do not use it on almost every single post because I think it looks the best.

While my husband was rewiring the ceiling fan, I certainly did not jump out of my skin when wires touched, made a loud poof, and everything went dark.

I have not peed in my pants so many times this week that I lost count all from coughing so hard that it just came out. I never showed my pants to my husband to prove I had peed when he asked. That would be absurd!

I do not have a problem with moisture in my kitchen window that causes major ice build up. And I never ever take a hair dryer to it to melt it, especially when it blows melted water everywhere. Nope, not me!

I certainly never become frustrated with my children, and if I do (which I don't), I would never start counting down the daysyears until they move out.

I do not rely on cough syrup with codeine to help me sleep at night, or to make my cough sleep at night.

I did not forget what it was like to cook a small meal after grandma took 3 kids to the farm and another child was at her dad's. I never cooked just 1 single box of mac-n-cheese and 3 hot dogs, instead of 7 boxes and a whole package of hot dogs. It really was not simple! Oh, and I would certainly never feed our children mac-n-cheese and hot dogs. Nope, not me!

Happy Birthday Shawndra and Devin

We celebrated Shawndra's 11th and Devin's 5th birthday. Today is actually Shawndra's birthday and tomorrow is Devin's, but since it fell on a Sunday, we celebrated today with grandparents and our own family.

Shawndra's side of the cake is really bright. We told her she was "old" today, but she did a good job finding people that were older, like, ahem, myself.
Shawndra didn't think she was getting a camera for her birthday because we had told her previously she probably wouldn't. But thanks to a super early Black Friday deal, we were able to find a decent camera for her. And she was tickled pink to say the least!

Devin got lots of dress up stuff. She sported a purple boa initially, but that was before she opened a present with a tutu, a tiara, and a set of beautiful butterfly wings.

And this is something she really wanted. I'm not even sure what it does and I bought it for her! It's some Gumball My Little Pony thing. Come to find out later, the boys had told her she was getting it because they had found it in the truck.

Here is her favorite (for now) dress up outfit.

stuck

Mike and I made our way to town today to do a few errands and of course make the weekendly stop at Wal-Mart. Once we finished our shopping there, we decided we needed an ice cream cone from Dairy Queen. Ok, I decided we needed a cone because he didn't care. Although, he didn't have to take me there because I was a passenger.

But, alas, he did.

We stopped in the turning lane and looked over at the entrance. Mike said, "Looks kind of rough.". Dairy Queen is known to get a nasty rutty bumpy slushy entrance if there is ever an snow. Our shining moment came and Mike says "Ready? Let's go!" We hit the first bump kind of slow and slid into the next and then it happened. Stopped cold. Half in the driveway, half on 22nd Ave. (22nd Ave is a very busy road in our town.)

Mike threw it in reverse and all we could here is the high pitched sound of spinning tires on ice. After moving briefly back, he threw it back forward and we were officially stuck. All I could do is watch the cars coming at me, hoping they would stop or move to the next lane, or else they were going to take off my rear end. My car's rear end that is.

The smell of burning tires was nauseating. I started to get a little ticked about the smell of my tires. I didn't want them wrecked. Can you wreck a tire from spinning them, heck, I don't know??

Mike finally got out and I got in the driver's seat. I did what I was told. I went forward and backwards and left and right and turned my tires and turned my tires the other way, but nothing worked. I watched a pick-up slide to a stop near my back end. Then miraculously, a cop showed up to block traffic. Then a few guys showed up. And a gal.

At this time, there are 3 guys, 1 gal, my husband, and a police officer trying to get us out of there. Pushing forwards, pushing backwards, pushing forwards, finally led us to a sideways position where we were gaining ground and before long, we popped out onto dry land, said our thank yous to the people who helped and then laughed. I did anyhow. It was a laugh from feeling like a complete idiot to a laugh from thinking did that really just happen?

All that for an ice cream cone. An ice cream cone that wasn't even that great. Sigh.

Christmas program

Shawndra, Joseph, and Dalton had their school Christmas program last night. Dad and Shaylee went to watch them sing and play in band, while I stayed home (sick and coughing) and watched the little two. Joseph is in the front in the orange. I see his teacher is sitting behind him. I wonder if that was strategic planning?

I was told by Grandma Rhonda that Dalton knew all of his hand motions to the songs he sang. She was very impressed.

Shawndra getting ready to play her (my) clarinet. Yes, that is the clarinet I got when I was in 7th grade and we bought it used, so it's quite old!

I'm not sure what else is coming up for Christmas programs, of if the middle school will be doing anything. I'll let ya'll know when/if I hear something. I got a small bite wound from not telling everyone. My bad. It kind of snuck up on me.

playsets aren't just for kids

(((Here's an old post I found in draft form that was never published. Still sicker than a dog, still bummed about the camera, but waiting to see if my mom's lens will work. Enjoy the pretty green grass in the pictures because we all know the grass isn't green any more!!)))

Who ever said playsets are just for kids has not been to my house lately because at my house, they are used by sliding kittens....

and climbing cats