Samantha's 8th birthday party with friends

Samantha chose an art theme for her party this year.  She invited 4 cute girls from the neighborhood and they had a great time!  They painted bird houses, made jewelry, played pictionary, played pin-the-brush-on-the-pallate, and ate cake and ice cream.  Samantha seemed pleased with the whole day, so that's all a mom can ask for!!!

4th of July

We had a 4th of July party at our house this year.  The others couldn't do fireworks at their houses because of fire restrictions - lots of wildfires this year!  

We did dinner, slip-n-slide, baby pool, and of course, fireworks!  It was a fun night!

Panda in PJs

Samantha let me sleep with her panda tonight because I had a sniffly nose. Pretty cute!

Lord of the Rings

Watching a movie with my favorite people on a rainy Saturday.

Crickets

We've got a couple VERY loud crickets in our backyard. Andy has been stalking them trying to "eliminate" them. The kids have even been in on the hunt with no success. The other night during family prayer Alex asked that " the crickets would stop cricking". Funniest thing I've heard in a long time. That, and gophers riding in taxis. (thanks Andy!)


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Meds

After a lot of consideration, research, prayers, tears, and consultations, we have put both kids on medicine for ADHD.  So far......AWESOME!!!  

Samantha has more ADD - Attention Deficit.  She struggles to focus on the task at hand.  Amazingly, she's done very well in school, but her teacher did say that she has noticed some attention problems that are a hindrance for her.  At home, she has a hard time focusing on tasks that I give her - like making her bed, getting dressed, brushing teeth, things of that nature.  It's been more than frustrating for me, and her.  Many, many fights have taken place in the mornings just trying to get ready for school.  Now I know that I just have to stand by her and help her get ready!  Even with the meds because they don't start working until after she's at school.  

Samantha's results have been great.  She can get her chores done and will even sometimes do them proactively!  She is able to sit down and concentrate on an art project without getting up 10 times.  She can focus on reading chapter books now and for the first time last night, stayed up WAY past her bedtime to finish a chapter book.  She's NEVER done that before and although I didn't want her up that late, she was so happy to come upstairs at 9.45pm and explain the book to me and how it ended!!  It was adorable!  

Alex suffers more with the hyperactivity aspect of ADHD.  His brain won't let him sit still for 1 minute!  It's frustrating for us, but also for him.  He can't just sit down and enjoy a TV show, or play with toys before his little body has to move and jump around!  His teacher at school says he's "silly".  Which I'm pretty sure is code for "he can't sit still and bugs everyone in class".  He's never gotten in trouble and he's so sweet and has a lot of friends, but the hyperactivity would also contribute to disobedience at home.  This was NOT okay with  me and we had many fights and tears.  

Alex's results have been wonderful too.  He is SO much more calm, but it didn't take away his crazy and fun spirit.  A fact that I LOVE since it's what made Alex - Alex!  He is much quicker to say "ok" when I ask him to do a chore or help me, he is able to sit through church and just color or draw without turning around and acting crazy!  It's so much more peaceful!  

Overall I am so happy with the outcome.  It's only been about a month but we are going to keep going on the meds and see how they do throughout the summer months.  It will be interesting to see them on the medicine in Hawaii too.  I'm hoping we can last a lot longer at the beach and pool and that the flights will be more calm.  They've always been good travelers, but this will be a good experiment.  

The medicine has some nasty side effects that haven't been too much of an issue so far.  It causes sleeplessness which we now have under control with the help of some melatonin.  It can cause a decrease in appetite as well, but Samantha has none of that and Alex does only minor.  If I keep him from snacking and just eating 3 good meals, he does pretty well.  

The decision to put both kids on medicine was not easy or fun.  We've been going to therapy as well to work out some other issues and though we have yet to reach perfection, we're a lot closer than we were before!!

Why I love Tuesdays

Yum!

Alex made breakfast, and a mess, for the 3 of us this morning. What a cutie!

Finished!!!

I think it is gorgeous!! Scroll down on the blog to see the before pictures. Thanks to my parents and Andy for all their help!

Sentences

This is what happens when you fight with your sibling on the way home from school. You get to write sentences about respect. Enjoy!

Goof

Alex and I were just walking out of the school doors and the door hit him in the foot. Which, by the way, is a HUGE foot!! It's like the kid has flippers on! Anyway, after he got hit he exclaimed, "oh, that hurt my manly foot!!"

I laughed.

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At the park with my gorgeous niece!

Another bit done on the fireplace.

Happy birthday to me!!

Demolition done and ready for brick

Happy Easter!!!!

During demolition

Master bedroom fireplace before picture

Adorable

This morning Alex woke me up and the first thing he said to me was, "mom, did anyone ever tell you that you look cute when you sleep?"!!!! Seriously, my 6 year old son said that to me!!!! Made me wake up with a smile! I love you, buddy!

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Alex's first cavity

He loved the orange smelling happy gas! He didn't even know he had anything done-that's how good the gas and the dentists are!!

Pizza oven

I guess our house wasn't meant to burn down, because it probably should have! We are in the process of getting it fixed so we can enjoy homemade pizzas again.

This is what happens when mom tells you to clean your room and you don't. Your playroom gets emptied!!!!!!!
He has been warned MANY times.

2012 Thus far

2012 has been pretty crappy so far - actually, right now it's okay, but I'm not holding my breath. Here's how it's gone down:

- I got my eye surgery done! Now it's great, but for the first week it was terrible and I spent a lot of time in bed.

- Right after my eyes were feeling better, Samantha got a cold.

-Then Alex got the cold

-Then I got the cold.

-Samantha got better, I thought Alex was better

-My cold turned into a sinus infection

-Alex's cold turned into bronchitis

-Everyone was better for what felt like a nanosecond

-We took Samantha to the child psychologist for some behavioral issues. We don't have a diagnosis just yet, but it's been worrisome and stressful.

-Alex got the 24 hour bug with fever and puke

-Samantha got lice

-Toilet broke, then got fixed

-Shower leaked, and still leaks, hopefully will get fixed soon

Aaaaaannnnnd that is about it. It seemed that everything was happening all at once and it wasn't good stuff! But, we've been okay for a few days now and I'm hoping it stays that way! The only good part was that Andy didn't travel at all during that time so I always had back-up.

2012, you better shape up!!!

Ears

Someone finally got brave enough to do this!!!

Karate

Alex is too darn cute in his karate uniform.

Phil

After over 3 years of survival in a bowl we finally got Phil in a proper tank!! He should grow larger with the bigger space, but knowing my luck he will hate the new, filtered space and go belly up! I hope not though.......he's a good fishy.

Alex redeems himself

Alex has had a rough few days. Just been plain old nasty! That makes me not happy. But the kid is KING of redeeming himself. Tonight was a prime example. I was saying his nightly prayer with him when he said this: "please bless mom at home tomorrow that the Holy Ghost will be with her while she is alone."

Yup, buddy. All is forgiven!!

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Day 6

Day 6 and my eyes are feeling SO much better! I think taking those bloody contacts out of my eyes yesterday was a huge help. The doctor also gave me some gel eye drops that helped keep my eyes moisturized though the night. Thus, I woke up with pain-free eyes! Hallelujah!! AND, my sight has been much better today. Still not where I paid $3500 for them to be, but I know they will get there.
Yippeee for eye sight!

Blurry

The advantages of PRK over Lasik? Less "invasive". Which is good for someone like me who has thin corneas and a family history of various eye diseases.

The disadvantages of PRK? EVERYTHING ELSE!!!!! The healing time is longer and more painful. Your vision is not perfect right away. Oh, and did I mention your vision is not perfect right away? As in, I cannot read the screen as I type this! Andy will have to proof-read it for me. My vision is definitely better than before the surgery (20/40 instead of 20/400), but it will also be blurry for a few weeks as my eyes recover. The doctor was right, PRK is a roller coaster ride for your eyes. Roller coasters make me wanna puke!

I imagine I will be glad I did the surgery one day. But that day isn't today. I did go in for my 5 day check-up today and everything is healing just right and they took the bandage contacts out so my eyes are finally free!! The key right now is keeping my eyeballs hydrated. Lots and lots of artificial tears.

In short, if you can, get LASIK. If you can't, talk to me before making a decision for PRK. I'll tell you all the gory details!
What's that you say? You want to WATCH my surgery? Here ya go!


(PS, the surgery was completely painless! Easiest part of all of this so far!)

PRK

These are the eye shields they have you wear to bed so you don't rub your eyes. The most annoying part is the sticky face you are left with in the morning!!

PRK

Driving home after my eye surgery. My eyes were still numb and feelin good. Nifty sunglasses, I know.

Christmas 2011

Samantha and all of her goodies.

Alex lined all of his stuff up for me to snap a picture.

Love the first look at the Santa gifts.

Alex kissing his new MP3 player.

Family photo after church at my parents house.

We had another wonderful Christmas. We opened presents with the kids at our home, got ready for church, attended my parent's sacrament meeting then had lunch and presents with my side of the family. We played and laughed and cleaned and laughed until around 3pm at which time we had to leave for the Higham festivities. We dropped stuff at home then headed to Orem for dinner and more presents. It was a great day and we loved seeing everyone. We all got spoiled by Santa and each other. Christmas night brought much puking from Samantha and a sleepless night for me, Andy and Samantha, but overall it was a great day!

Christmas building 2011

My 3 favorite guys building Kinex on Christmas day.

Andy and his BFF's

It's rare to get these 3 together - especially looking so handsome. The occasion required a picture.

When Parenting is Awesome

The other evening we got a skiff of snow that needed to be removed. Andy went outside to start and the kids soon followed. After helping Daddy for a little while they both went across the street - without being asked - to shovel our neighbors driveway. She is a widow and always appreciates the help. Surprisingly enough, the kids did a pretty decent job!! Sister Johnson brought a treat by tonight addressed to the kids saying thank-you.
Andy took the treat into Samantha and her response was, "I knew someone would appreciate us!".

Sweet, sweet, kids!!

Like mother, like daughter!

The other night at dinner Samantha was telling a story and meant to say the word combine, but instead she made up a great word - combinate!! I was so proud!! I frequently make up words and this one was right up my alley!

Alex has started calling Samantha "Sam". Not entirely sure how I feel about that.

Grandma gave the kids a fun "countdown to Christmas" this year. They get to open a present every 25 days of December until Christmas!!! The good: they have a new toy to play with every day. The bad: they are so excited to see what the new present is that they wake up too early! This morning they got some playdoh and a memory game and they have been playing nicely together all morning. It's been lovely. Until I have to get Samantha ready for school.....then not so lovely! But that wouldn't be any different than all the other days.

Guess what Alex just had for breakfast??? Pickles on a plate with a bowl of dried cranberries on the side! And he was super disappointed that the cucumber we had in the fridge had gone bad. Kid belongs in the Mediterranean!!

Sunday night

My boys. Drinking hot cocoa and watching Thundercats together. Pretty cute if you ask me.

Moochies

The day before thanksgiving we drove up to salt lake and ate lunch at moochies. It was a gorgeous day and the meatball sub was nummy.

Alex with Santa at Walmart.

Samantha with Santa at Walmart.

Testing 123

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Forgotten Picture

I realized the other day that I never really went through all of our Hawaii pictures! I had forgotten about this picture of Samantha and I in our matching floppy hats and I thought it was really cute! Isn't that girl a babe???