Curse of the Pasu

Binky. Bink. Passi. Nuk. The Pacifier. I prefer to call it a "pasu". That's what my baby brother Austin called it when he was little and cute. Whatever you call it's hard to get rid of. Don't get me wrong, I am all in favor of the pacifier, it has saved my sanity on several occasions, it's easier to get rid of than a thumb and some babies just need something to suck on (I learned that on Ashton first night of life when she tried to use me as a pacifier). Now that Dalin is two it is more of a crutch for him and me. I was going to try ween Dalin off the pasu this week as a surprise for Chris, but he seems to be even more attatched to it since his dad left. Kaylee didn't take a pacifier and I think Ashton and Aiden were both at least two and a half before they ended their relationship with the pacifier so I guess I'll just keep pulling it out of his mouth every time he's within my reach.

Some things I've learned...or maybe I already knew.

Chris is in San Francisco for training this week and here are a few things I've learned while he has been gone.

• If you wake up your kids at 5 am to take your husband to the airport, they will not go back to sleep when you get home, but they will be tired and cranky for the rest of the week. (Yes it's only Tuesday, but I know this statement will be just as true on Sat. when Chris comes home)
• We actually get to church on time when Chris isn't here. (This has been proven time and again so don't let Chris tell you any different.)
  
• If there are police cars at the neighbors house don't let your husband spread grass seed on the lawn so he'll have an excuse to be outside to find out what is going on. A lot of stupid birds will eat said seeds and then poop all over your walk way to show their appreciation.
• I could make spaghetti every night for dinner and my kids (or most of them) won't even mind, in fact they will probably like it!
• I actually like to mow the lawn (one of the benefits of having so many brothers is that I never had to mow the lawn when I was a kid. This probably wouldn't be a truth if I had.)
• Bed time is my favorite time of the day! (By bed time I mean the time when the kids have used up all of their excuses to come out of their rooms and they have to stay in bed.)
• Because I am lacking any really good skills (you know like nunchuk skills, bow hunting skills or computer hacking skills) I try to be as self sufficient as I can when Chris is gone. I think I need to prove to myself that I can do things.
• We really miss Chris when he's gone and we are so happy when he comes home!

Are You Ready For Some Football?

Our back yard is right up against the high school baseball field. During the summer the football team uses that field for practice. They hold practices in the evening so it will be cooler (but it isn't) and one day last week Chris held Dalin up so he could look over the wall and watch the practice. The kid is obsessed! The next day he woke up at 6:45 am and he wanted to "see football players." I tried to convince him there wasn't any one there, but they were dang it! (I think JV practices in the morning and varsity in the evening). Now I am not a morning person, nor do I enjoy football very much so I was not a happy camper. I've made sure that Dalin knows his dad should be his football buddy, and they will stand at the wall for an hour watching practice. Dalin will talk about the helmets and say hut and hike. It's funny when I don't have to do it with him. This morning when Chris and Dalin went out to watch, I was going out to take a picture and I heard someone say "What the heck! There's a kid!" (I cleaned up the language for our general audience). The team was about to start kicking balls at the fence and they were surprised to see a little fan sitting on the wall. Some of the guys tried waving at Dalin but, he favors being a spectator and not a socializer. Chris is excited that fianlly one of his kids is a football fan.

A couple of die-hard fans. Notice Dalin is still in his pj's.

Pioneer Day Parade

On Saturday our stake hosted a tri-stake pioneer parade. It is no where near the Utah celebrations, but my kids still love it. Now that they are getting older, and I don't have to carry little people around as much, I am enjoying it a little more myself. This year my brother Aaron brought his kids, so it was even more fun. After the parade there was a breakfast of pancakes, watermelon, juice and milk. There was also games to play and prizes to be won. the church is across the street from the park and behind the church there is a fire station. The firemen are always a big hit in the parade, and the kids love them even more when they hook up the fire hose to the hydrant by the church and spray the entire park. I was waiting in a game line with Dalin when the water started. I was in the middle of the park so I thought I would be safe, but no such luck. I got drenched and the water not only reached me, but it sprayed across to the far side of the park. There was a game where you could win a shirt and Kaylee and Ashton and their cousins Emily and Abby thought it would be cool if they could all win matching shirts. You had to try and make two rings on some soda bottles to win said shirts and I think between the four girls they probably played 60 times, but they each ended up with a shirt so happiness abounded.

Scott decided this was the best way to watch the parade when people started spraying the crowd with water guns.

Abby, Scott, Aiden, Emily, Ashton, Kaylee

This was the ice river walk. I think all of the kids tried it, but we ran out of space on our camera so we didn't get a picture of all of them. Dalin thought he wanted to try, but changed his mind when he put his foot on. Then decided it might be alright if he walked with Ashton, I think he took two steps then stuck his feet out in front of him and Ashton had to carry him across. She would have been a great pioneer.

Scott and Dalin trying out to be cow hands.

High School Reunion

Okay it wasn't really a high school reunion, but we did go to a reunion and a high school this past weekend. We had a family reunion for the descendants of my great-great grandpa Lamond Woods in Barclay Nevada (not to far from Caliente, NV if that means anything to any one) where my grandpa and a couple of his brothers have a ranch. We only stayed for a couple of hours, but it was fun to see so much family (over 100 easily). The kids were able to ride four wheelers and horses and play with their cousins.
Afterward we went to St. George to see High School Musical performed at the Tuachan theater. It was actually at the Tuachan high school of performing arts, and I think it was kids who are part of a summer camp or workshop or something. The kids loved it, but I think I prefer the polished studio version. The kids were able to get their programs autographed so they were on a star-struck high. Who knows maybe one day they will be worth something.

I know I say this all the time, but I love that my kids and their cousins are such good friends.

Kaylee, Ashton, Emily, Abby and Rachel with "Troy and Gabriella"

Aiden only wanted "Troy's" autograph and he was so excited when he told him how cool his basketball shirt was.

Kaylee and Ashton with "Ryan and Sharpay"

Blue Man Group

What's unusual about these tickets?

Chris and I were able to see the Blue Man Group show for free last night and it was so much fun! (You should ask Chris how he got the tickets) The only thing, as you can see from the picture, we didn't get to sit next to each other (seat 41 and seat 28). We sat in the "poncho" zone which meant we were in an area where we might get splashed by something from the stage. We were actually on the first row which didn't turn out to be as great as I thought. My neck was pretty sore by the end of the night, but it was kind of cool to see everything up close. There is one point in the show where the Blue Men are eating Twinkies then, what looks like regurgitated cream and spongecake, comes spraying out of their chests. Chris was middle front, and he didn't cover up with his poncho well enough so he got it all over his arms and face (gross!) By the time we got out of the show it had dried and it looked like he had used his arms to wipe his nose! (eeeeeewwwww!) We are so very lucky to have our family live in town. We met up with Chris's sister Megan and her boyfriend Brian for the show and my brothers Austin and Ryan and Ryan's wife Katrina helped out with watching the kids (Thank You so much guys!). We didn't get home until 12:45 so Austin slept over so we wouldn't have to take him home so late. It is so great to know your kids are in good hands when you leave them.

Chris and I in our fancy poncho's

Can you see Chris? He was only 13 seats away from me!

I just love these kids

I am so thankful to be the mother of these children. It literally takes my breath away sometimes when I think about how much I love them. Even on days when they make me so crazy I want to make them sleep in the tub, I love them more than I can say.

A giant random rocking chair at a gas station in Fillmore, UT

4th of July movie fun with WALL-E.

What do you do with a package of pink cotton candy? Hmm..let me think.
Ashton is too funny.

The Rock Wall

I hope everyone had a fantastic 4th. We are usually hopping from one activity to the other on the fourth of July, but this year we relaxed for most of the day. The kids slept until 8:30 (I love that!) and then we went to see WALL-E. I was in the hall with Dalin most of the time but I was not impressed with what I saw. It was pretty boring, and hard to understand the robot-speak that made up most of the movie. We headed to my parents house for popsicles and fireworks. Amazingly enough, unlike in years past, none of our kids were too scared of the noise and they all stayed outside and watched everything. We then went to a local hotel/casino down the road from our house and watched some more amazing fireworks. It was a good day for me because we didn't have to deal with any crowds, and we were only outside after the sun went down so it was only like 105* instead of 110*;)
On Saturday Chris took the kids to the rec center to climb the rock wall. Dalin was taking a much needed nap so I stayed home with him. The girls have been on track break for the last two weeks and I have been watching my nephew every day so it was so great for me to just be by myself for a while. The girls have been up the wall several times and had a lot of fun, but this was the first chance Aiden had to go. He went up about 2/3 of the way up the wall the first time, and he was a little nervous to come back down , but Chris convinced him that he was at the bottom and it would be okay. The second time he went up about 3/4 of the way up and there was no talking him into coming back down. The kid who was working had to climb up and bring him down. He didn't go up more than a quarter of the way the rest of the time, but I was impressed because I wasn't sure he would go up more than once.

Kaylee (left) and Ashton (right)

Aiden

Don't let their faces fool you, they really did have fun.

The Dentist

I have to wonder what kind of person it takes to go into a profession where you know people dread coming to see you? I know the money is good and all, but I would think it would start to hurt your feelings after a while. Kaylee and Ashton had their long over due check-ups and Aiden had to get a crown put on a tooth. The girls got a clean bill (thank goodness), but a reminder to floss more often. Aiden is a bit (or a lot) of a wimp when it comes to the dentist. He can't even get through a teeth cleaning with out a lot of tears and even more gagging. To get him ready for his dental work today he had to have a special drink an hour before his appointment to make him sleepy and calm. The only catch, he thought the drink tasted bad and he wouldn't take it. It took myself, two hygienists and Dalin half an hour to get him to drink two ounces of the stuff, and it wasn't without a river of tears. I think Dalin was only in it for the sticker. I thought we were all good once he was called back, but when he came out the hygienist told me that he had moved his hand suddenly and the dentists tool slipped resulting in a cut lip. We were lucky it didn't go all the way through his lip, or so I was told. At least we are safe for another six months.

The gash on his lip makes it hard for him to smile, and the video game on the T.V. makes it hard for him to look at the camera.