Ty & I have been sick :(

These are Ty's nasty little eyes. A week and a half ago he woke up with his eyes all gross like this. Jeremy took him to the doctor and he had conjunctivitis. So yuck. We had to get a $50 eye drop prescription but it cleared them up really well.

Three days after that Ty and I woke up with head colds. We were sneezing and had runny noses and watery eyes. We stayed home from church to rest.

The next day I had to take the kids to the doctor for well child visits. Poor Ty was behind on immunizations and got 4 shots in his legs. He handled it pretty well, not much crying. He didn't want to walk for the rest of the day and kept saying, "Ouch! My owies." We doped him up with Tylenol and gave him a nice warm bath and he was all better. Now he is back to normal!!

As for Mommy I'm not back to normal yet. It all stared last sunday with the head cold. I HATE head colds. I whine a lot. I kid you not I can handle child labor better than a head cold. Ty and I had colds at the same time so I wasn't getting much rest. I had to keep getting up to take care of Ty. After about 4 days I started feeling a little better.

On Friday we went to Cedar to a graduation. I wasn't feeling to good but it wasn't a big deal so I toughed it out. On the way home my eye was really bugging me. I got home to discover I had conjunctivitis too. Well at least 2 of us got good use of the $50 prescription. The next morning I woke up with my eye sealed shut. That was a weird feeling. I don't remember ever having that happen. I will spare you the pictures of my eye. Note: Johnson's baby wash/shampoo cleans yucky eyes really well.

After getting my eye all cleaned up I realized how yucky I was feeling. I had another cold. This time it was a sore throat and a stuffy nose and head. Seriously!? So I have been treating the new cold and now have an ear ache. I cannot believe this. I feel like a toddler or something. I can't remember being sick like this in forever. What 30something gets eye infections, ear aches, and one cold on top of another? Not to mention all the adult female stuff that I have been dealing with during all of this.

Let's just hope in a few more days everyone will be feeling well. Go away sick bugs.

Work & Play

Yesterday I decided to clean my disaster of a house. I spent all day cleaning my butt off. I vacuumed all the carpet and swept and mopped all the linoleum. I also unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher and cleaned all the kitchen. I picked up a ton of toys, made beds and washed windows. I cleaned all three toilets and wiped down all three bathroom counters. I will admit I avoided the bathtubs cause I hate to clean them. Among all this I also washed, folded and put away five loads of laundry.

Then we moved outside. I watered the plants and sprayed down the stucco. I washed the outside windows and sprayed down the patio. Then I attempted the swimming pool. I was a total slacker last year and I never put the pool back in the garage. The thing just blew around our back yard all winter long....so it was REALLY dirty. It took me quite a while to get it cleaned up. Lesson learned, put pool away this fall. So here it is! Crap, I'm special and I don't know how to move pictures so see the picture above. I cleaned the pool with dish soap, a rag and that tiny scouring pad. I hope my kids appreciate it!

After all the cleaning we had a few hours of fun!! It was overcast and a little cool so there were lots of lady bugs out! We ended up catching 8 of them! We played with the lady bugs and in the pool for a few hours then we let them go and came inside. It was fun cause a few neighbor kids came over to play. All three of the boys were afraid of the lady bugs but Kinley loved them. Ty would scream like a girl when they got near him. Too cute!!!

I love spring! I love seeing my kids have fun! I love St. George! I love a clean house!!!

Toddlers & Teenagers

My recommendation to anyone who can avoid it.....DO NOT have toddlers and teenagers at the same time!

So let's get started with the stories. First McKinley, not much to say about her. Right now she is actually the good kid. Just a few strong opinions and temper tantrums here and there.

Ty. Where to start. Let's just say he is 2. He has all the sudden decided he is a BIG BOY. He no longer likes to sleep in his crib. He prefers Kinley's big bed. He doesn't want to sit in his booster seat at the table, so it has been replaced with a folding chair. He is also thinking he wants big cups all the time instead of sippy cups. This is all a little annoying but it's just him growing up the real problem is with his diapers.

Ty likes to remove his clothing and diapers ALL THE TIME. I have washed clothes and/or bedding every day for over a week now. I have put him in onesies thinking that might make it harder for him to get his diaper off. Oh no. He can still manage. A few days ago he woke up from his nap with his onesie still snapped but his diaper removed. Seriously! How? So I washed clothes and bedding. Yesterday he woke up with his onesie still on and his diaper on but his clothes were wet. Upon examination I determined he had "played" with himself and didn't get things tucked back into the diaper. OH MY GOSH!!! Yet again. Wash time. So is it time for potty training? You tell me.

Now on to the teenager.....Travis. Okay I admit I have NO IDEA what I'm doing here. Any advice is welcome. I have counted it up and in the last 9 months or so Trav has been grounded 4 times for issues related to this one girl. We are to the point that we don't know what to do anymore. Obviously grounding is not working. He keeps breaking our simple rules: tell us where you are, who you are with, and never be alone with this girl (or any other girl).

A few days ago we got a visit from this girl's Father informing us that our kids were caught "making out" near her house. What the hell! He is only 13. We had rules to avoid this kind of thing. Now what do we do? Seriously I don't know but I know that I am very frustrated. He is only 13. He is breaking rules. He is losing our trust. Normally he is a really good kid! So I can't decide if this is a trial for Travis or for Jeremy and I.

Mother's Day!

I love Mother's day, I always have! I think of Mother's day as my one day off a year. It's really not true but my husband does his best to make it as wonderful and relaxing for me as possible. Jeremy always makes sure that the kids give me a wonderful gift, he is so good at gift giving. Then my wonderful husband makes me my favorite breakfast and whatever I request for lunch. He truly is amazing!

I feel so thankful to be a Mother. I love all three of my children, each for very different attributes. They are all a pleasure to be around and fill my heart with so much joy. I am thankful to each of them for the love they bring to myself and my husband.

I am also thankful to my Mother. Tears fill my eyes as I think of the love and appreciation I have for her. She is truly an amazing woman who has raised a wonderful family. I pray that I will be half the woman she is. Even now she does everything she can to make my life better.

I am thankful to Jeremy's Mother, who is also an amazing woman. She had and raised 11 children and I see the love and joy that she has for each one of them. She proves to me that you love your children no matter how many you may have. She has also proved to me recently that you will find joy in your children's accomplishments no matter how old they get.

My three kids will always be my babies. I love them dearly. I look forward to the future with them. I can't wait to celebrate their accomplishment. I love them for who they are now and who they will be. I am living in the moment with them and enjoying it every day!!