Have I gone a little overboard with the Emergency Preparedness-ness?

Pumpkin has helped me get our family a little better prepared for emergencies. We've shoveled wheat into buckets, bought extra staples like peanut butter, canned cheese, olive oil, honey, etc. He's helped me organize and put those things away. He also helped me create a little emergency kit for the car with snacks, drinks, diapers and wipes, blankets, etc.

Today he came into the living room with a bag and couldn't wait to show me his "emergency kit". Honestly, I couldn't wait to see what was in it, either. He'd put it together all by himself and I was curious what he thought was important.

In it was the following:
his favorite blanket
a few binkies
a full juice cup for him and one for Princess
some fruit snacks
his new Go Fish game
Princess's favorite stuffed hippo that she always sleeps with
the baby Tylenol that I've been giving to Princess for her teeth

All in all, not a bad kit. It's definitely stuff that the kids would want if we were suddenly evacuated like the people in southern Texas. Nothing unneeded or unnecessary. He wanted to put it in the car right away, but I convinced him that we'd need all of those things (minus the snacks) for naptimes in a few hours. Still, it's nice that he's thinking along the right lines and that he's brilliant enough to put together his own kit. Maybe I underestimated him. Maybe he's ready for more than I thought.

Ok, so I'll admit it. I just started reading the Twilight books. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Sort of like how I watched High School Musical just because I was curious. Unlike High School Musical, though, I ended up liking the books. Really liking them. I read the first three of them in three days. The only reason I haven't read the last one yet is because Dylan hasn't had a chance to put it on my Kindle because I've been using it. I liken the phenomenon to the Harry Potter books. What is it with teens being placed in magical worlds and learning how to cope? Something is just downright addicting.



Addicting: I think that's a good way to describe these books. I know they're literary junk food, but I just couldn't put them down. When I wasn't reading them, like when I was feeding Princess or changing a diaper, I was thinking about them. The story fascinated me and I couldn't wait to see what happened next. It was clear that Stephanie Meyer is a first time writer. The first book didn't flow quite right. There were weird stops and starts in the story. By the second book she was doing better, and by the third I hardly noticed it anymore. That's when you know you're reading a book written by a good writer...when you as the reader lose yourself in the story and forget you're reading.

I'm not sure why the story became so important to me. I have a few theories, though. Maybe because I lived it, sans vampires, of course.

When I was seventeen we moved from a suburban North Carolina town which I loved to a podunk Idaho "town" only about 20 miles south of the Canadian border. The town population was measured in the hundreds. There were only about 150 kids in the high school...less than 50 kids per class. The town population was smaller than my last high school's student attendance! We also moved in halfway through the school year. You can imagine the splash I made when I arrived. These kids had all grown up with each other, and a new person moving to town was almost unheard of. The town was shrinking, not growing. It had one stoplight and one fast food restaurant, a Taco Bell housed in the town's only gas station. They had a movie theater, but only one screen and it only had one movie showing Friday evening and one on Saturday. The town was nestled in the beautiful mountains of Northern Idaho. It was cute, quaint, and kind of boring for a teenager with no car. The nearest mall was about an hour away.

(**If you haven't read the book, you won't get this next paragraph**)

So, we arrived, my younger sister and I, with a big splash. All of a sudden we were big, new, interesting fish in a tiny pond. I had my own "Chess Club Eric", a boy named Clark who lived one street over and came to help us move in. He was friendly enough and offered to show me around school the next day. I had my own "La Push Jacob", a boy my age whose parents were old friends of my parents. We spent some of the younger years of our lives playing together, but neither of us remembered it much. He wasn't Native American, but his name was actually Jacob and we were friends. He ran with a rougher crowd than I was used to, though, so we didn't hang out much at school. And I had my own "Edward". His name was Aaron and he was, coincidentally, the son of the town doctor. He wasn't breathtakingly stunning, although I considered him very handsome. We did have a little animosity between us at first as several of the guys in LDS seminary class (before school!) vyed for my attention. One was a good friend of his, Alex (my "Sports Store Mike"), whose parents were well-off and who may have been more confidant than Aaron. But Aaron was funner and funnier. He and I just clicked. I even had my own "Jessica", a girl named Rachel who was friendly to me at first but when I started dating Aaron she had issues with that. I guess several of the local girls had been trying to "bag him" for awhile and he showed them no interest.

I went from a thriving metropolis to a tiny hole in the middle of nowhere. I went from taking 4 AP classes my junior year to being in a school with no honors classes. Needless to say there was a lot of time to fill. And, so, I filled it with Aaron. He was my first steady boyfriend, my first kiss. I really enjoyed his company and his family and he seemed to enjoy mine. I guess that's where my relation to Bella's story ends. There were no vamipres or werewolves. We only stayed in the town for 8 months before we moved away. It was just as well, Aaron was a senior and was going away to college. I desperately needed more of a challenge in school, and we moved to one of the best school districts in the country in Northern Virginia. Aaron and I never actually broke up. In fact, I've never broken up with anyone. But that's beside the point.

I think I really saw myself in Bella. At least in her circumstances. I was painfully shy and confused as why someone like Aaron would like me. I didn't consider myself attractive in the least, at least compared to the kid of girls I was used to seeing in school, but Aaron changed my image of myself. I wasn't nearly as whiny or desperate as Bella was. I think I had more self esteem than she had, and Aaron was by no means as overbearing and controlling as Edward. He was an easy-going hackey-sacker (it was 1996, ok?) who introduced me to the world of Techno music. He was the church dance DJ and the town smartie. Maybe that's why we fit so well together. He was my first love and holds a special place in my memory.

So that's my excuse. I lived the Twighlight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn stories. Ok, maybe just the Twilight story. Ok, maybe just the first few chapters. But I was there! People online have been wondering if these books are good for tweens to read. I didn't find anything wrong with them, and I think it would open up an interesting discussion about co-dependence and the importance of having a life outside of your boyfriend. This boy is like a drug for Bella. She can't seem to go a few hours without him. She even has him spending the night while she lies to her father. Not smart. I did "sneak out" once to see Aaron, but I told my mom that I was going first and I was home before midnight, so maybe that doesn't count. I just hope all the girls out there reading this book take home a message of responsibility instead of deciding that it's ok to sneak around.

What did you think of the book?

Princess, a year in review:

September

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

Yeah, so it appears that we've been married for five years now. We had our anniversary almost a month ago, but sort of forgo-ed it as we were busy with other stuff. We've finally celebrated it with dinner out and an exchange of gifts. DaddyÅ asked me not to get him anything this year so he could get me a big gift. I was expecting a $100 spa day or something. I had no idea he wanted to get me this:

It's called a "Kindle". It's Amazon's really, really neat reader machine. It can hold hundreds of books and can download any more that you might want from Amazon.com as it has a constant wireless connection to the internet.


I've just gotta say that it's awesome! I read a lot. I mean a lot! Not as much as I used to now, since the kids demand most of my attention, but any spare second I get it spent with my nose in a book or on a blog. We visit the library almost every week, but sometimes I get frustrated that the books I want are too popular and I'm on a waiting list that's weeks (or months!) long. This Kindle is the perfect gift for me and I'm really touched that Daddy put so much thought into it. And it's the gift that keeps on giving because he has been downloading me books willy-nilly. I just have to mention a book that I've been interested in reading and he can get it for me. And if he can't, then I can download it from Amazon.com with the touch of a button. It also downloads the blogs I read and the newspapers I want.

This Kindle is amazing. You can bookmark pages and highlight passages. It has a dictionary program installed so that you can look up any word that you don't understand with a scroll of the wheel and the click of a button. It's so much fun and too easy to read. There's no backlight, so it doesn't hurt your eyes to read. You do need light to read, just like any normal book, but it's so light and portable I can take it anywhere. I like to read really long books, and sometimes it feels like I have bricks in my purse/diaper bag when I take them around with me.

So, great present, Daddy! I can't believe we've been married for 5 years! Next year we'll have known each other for 10 years. That's more than a third of my life. We have two beautiful children and a good, solid marriage. We have a good job and a happy home. We are seriously so blessed (to use a cliche term). We have a lot to be grateful for. Here's to another great 5 years!

I know I've posted a lot today, but I'm on a roll. The weather here is awesome. I looove the fall. It's my favorite time of year, except maybe for Christmas. It's definitely my favorite season. The temperature here has gone from 90's to 70's in one stormy weekend. We've got the windows open and it's actually chilly. We're all in sweatpants and long sleeved shirts. Can I just say how much I love the fall?

So my mom has gone on another trip to the east coast for work. Soon it will be Princess's birthday, but we celebrated on Sunday night so we could include my mom, too. The kids don't know the difference and it worked out well as a distraction for Pumpkin after we got home from the hospital.

Princess got some great presents. My grandmother sent some adorable clothes. I made Princess a new warm quilt with a matching pillow. It's of a flannel ducky material and a purple fleece on the opposite side. I'll post pictures when she lets me hold it for a minute.

Mimi and Poppop sent a really neat giraffe rocker that Princess loves, as well as a cute outfit and a fun toy train that she didn't mind sharing with her brother.


My mom got her a cute hoodie bath towel and the bathrobe you see her wearing. It has a princess crown. Awesome. You can see how much she likes her presents. Just look at that smile!


So, happy happy birthday my Princess. I can't believe it's been a whole year since thee was born. It seems like I blinked and a year is gone. The days may drag on, but the months and years go too quickly. Thee can now take steps, say "dada" and wave goodbye. Thy personality is intense. Thee always wants to show me what thee's found, even if it means sticking it in my eye. Thee still nurses, but it's just for comfort now. Thee loves thy family, especially thy brother Pumpkin. Thee should see thy eyes light up when he comes in the room. You two are going to be great friends. I'm so proud of thy achievements so far and I can't wait to see what thee does next. Thee is such an important part of our lives. Heavenly Father knew what he was doing when he sent thee to us. And so I'll hold thy hands as we walk and run through the world together. I love thee, my darling girl.

Every Saturday we have what we like to call "Daddy Time". It's anywhere from 1/2 an hour to several hours where Daddy will spend time with the kids (and me, too!) There's no TV on, no distractions for Daddy. Just time to pay attention to the kids and do something fun. They feel loved and special and it's really worked well to promote family harmony. I don't get mad at Daddy for spending the day playing video games or on the computer and Daddy knows that there is a set time frame for him to play with the kids. Then he can do what he wants for the rest of the day. We all look forward to it now, even Daddy. Pumpkin and I will talk during the week about things that we want to do and we'll present them to Daddy on Friday night so we can decide what our activity will be. We've gone to museums, the Scottish Faire, the Nickelcade, mini-golfing, bowling, shopping and lots of other things.

Last Saturday we went mini-golfing and I got some fun pictures.


Here's Princess "helping" me with my golf swing. Before and after. My own personal ball cleaner.

But how can I get mad at this cute little girl. She's adorable!


Pumpkin isn't bad at golf. He even made it in the castle on his first try. Daddy and I couldn't even do that. Still, I don' think he understands the concept exactly. He doesn't wait for his ball to stop rolling before he hits it again. After about 10 hits, he'll just pick up the ball and put it in the hole. Then he shouts "Pumpkin wins!!"


Inside they have video games (which Pumpkin calls "gamey-gameys") that we absolutely have to play. Pumpkin wanted to try the motorcycle for the first time. He's actually pretty good at the games. He won as many tickets as Daddy did, maybe even more.

New shoes!! I took the kids to Kid-to-kid, a local secondhand clothing store for kids, last week. I decided it was high time Pumpkin had some church pants that fit him. The ones he has slip down his hips now that he doesn't wear diapers, and they're about 2 inches too short. And so begins years of trying to keep up with his growth spurts. I managed to get 5 pairs of pants (that fit!), 5 long sleeved shirts (several of them flannel), a winter coat, a pair of slippers for Princess, and a pair of shoes for Pumpkin and for Princess for the winter all for less than $70. This is Princess's first pair of shoes and she loves them! She'll bring them to me several times during the day for me to put on her feet. Then she'll crawl around and squeal and admire her shoes. Here are the cute kids with their new shoes. Pumpkin's have Mickey Mouse on them and they light up! His are high-tops, like hiking shoes, for the winter months.


We put up 100 ears of corn this weekend. We bought the ears fresh off the truck and managed to get them shucked, silked, boiled, cooled, cut, and frozen within of hours of their being picked. Now we'll have yummy fresh corn to eat all winter long. Hooray for food storage! Princess helped by sitting in the bowl we used for the cooling of the ears.


Last week we went to the park with our neighbor twins, M&A. Since school has started we aren't allowed to use the park next to our house during the hours of 7-5, which is pretty much when the kids are awake. So, we packed up the kiddies and headed up to a different Park. It's beautiful up there. Plenty of room for the kids to run around and play. And, it was almost completely empty--we had the place to ourselves! Even Princess couldn't resist climbing up the stairs of the playground and following Pumpkin over the bridges.


Here are the three older kids running down the huuuuuge hill in a big bowl-shaped area at the park. It's super steep and the kids had a great time running down and back up. It wore them out nicely for naptime after we went home.

In the three and a half years since Pumpkin was born we really haven't been to the hospital. When Daddy had his seizure we were in the emergency room for a few hours, but Pumpkin was asleep. He came to see me in the labor and delivery ward when we had Princess, but that's a little more of a positive experience than any of the other areas of the hospital.

I guess it had to come sooner or later. On Sunday evening Pumpkin was lifting a broken whiteboard and dropped it on his foot. It sliced open his little toe and we thought it might have broken the bones. He started screaming and we ran in to the office to see what had happened. We saw the blood and sort of panicked. He hadn't really gotten hurt yet in his life. We tried to take a good look at the toe. We had to wipe a lot of blood away and from what we could see there was a large bump near the base of his toe. It looked like the bone had broken or dislocated and was poking through the skin. We asked my brother to stay with Princess, wrapped Pumpkin's foot in a washcloth, and (amongst the screaming from the little guy) we loaded him into the car to rush to the emergency room. Luckily we're only about 2 minutes from the hospital and it was Sunday so there was no traffic on the roads.

The ER was mostly empty and we got to go back to the X-Ray room relatively quickly. By this time Pumpkin was calmer, although the X-Ray room freaked him out a little. They let me stay in there with him while he got the pictures taken. I even had to push his toe out and hold it with a tongue depressor so they could get a good shot. It turns out that it wasn't broken, just sliced up pretty badly. Once they found that out we became rather a low priority. They put us on a couch in the hall and we stayed there for about 45 minutes waiting for a room. We finally got back there (I know, I know, an hour in the ER is super speedy) to a room and it was the coolest hospital room I've seen. The walls had been painted in safari style. There were tigers, elephants, a giraffe and lots of fronds and trees. You could tell it was the pediatric room. We entertained Pumpkin with the games on Daddy's Ipod while we waited for the doctor.

When the doctor showed up he cleaned up the blood covering Pumpkin's foot and took a look. He offered us stitches or "derma-bond", a superglue for the skin. I tried to picture how Pumpkin would handle a shot and then a doctor coming at him with a needle and thread. Things did not look good in my mind. We opted for the superglue. Pumpkin had a hard enough time with that, but mostly because the very nice doctor had to squeeze all of the excess blood out of the wound before he could apply the glue. We got glued up and came home. I gave Pumpkin some Tylenol and I could tell he was feeling better as he hobbled around the house showing me how well he could walk. Later that evening he accidently rubbed his toes across the carpet and reopened the wound. I patched him up as best I could and we went out today to get generic dermabond. It's good stuff. He didn't mind so much when I did it.

Anyway, our first unpleasantness is behind us and we're waiting for Pumpkin to heal so he can run around again. At least it wasn't a major disaster. It could have been alot worse and we feel blessed that it was only a minor injury. I'll bet the doctors and nurses were laughing at us for bringing in a small toe cut, but we wanted to make sure it wasn't broken. I swear, it was a legit injury. I swear.