Chucks!

You know those blue pads you get at the hospital that catch fluids?  They're called chucks, and Rich was able to come by a case of them a few years ago.  They have come in very handy this week as puke catchers.  It's never a good sign when you have done an entire load of laundry in the middle of the night, which is what happened last night. 

Last Wednesday, Connor came down with a GI infection.  At times, he was puking faster than I could clean it up, and sleep has been something I haven't been getting much of.  Yesterday, things were looking up and he turned the corner by bedtime.

However, Mackenzie woke up in the the middle of the night bawling.  She had puked all over her bed,  which is something she repeated several times.  She was asleep on the floor this morning and her bed once again had vomit on it.  Then Aiden started puking this morning.  I fear we have some very long days ahead.

Piano

A month or so ago, I saw a post on Facebook by my all time favorite piano teacher, Kerri Green.  She said she was re-opening her piano studio; she is an amazing teacher and pianist.  There were squeals of glee at the Hymas household, and I quickly got Aiden signed up for lessons from her.  He starts in a couple of weeks.

Since that news, I have rededicated myself to my own piano practicing.  I really can't sight read to save my life, but I have set some goals to learn all of the hymns that are sung in church and to learn the 50 Greats for Piano from the Yamaha music book. The question is when?

Back in the day, I used to get up early and go workout at the gym.  That, of course, is not an option now that I have kids and a husband who is usually out the door sometime between 5 and 6 am.  So, I had to find a different solution to the problem.  I contemplated it for months before I finally got myself psyched up enough to go to the gym after I dropped Aiden off at school, and put the other two in the gym's daycare for an hour.  

That has left those early mornings free.  Until recently, I've used them to sleep, since I am, at times, a little sleep deprived thanks to my little ones.  However, I am proud to say that I’ve gotten up at 6:00am for the past 4 weeks and practiced the piano before the kids got up (I have a Clavinova that can be used with earphones), and I'm feeling good about my progress.  I'm to the polishing up stage of Bach's Invention No. 1, and I'm on my 6th hymn. 

Fascinating Article

This is a really interesting article about Mormon Mommy blogs:

http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2011/01/15/feminist_obsessed_with_mormon_blogs

Eeek!

Last night as I went to grill some yummy Asian BBQ Chicken, I met with a nasty surprise.  I opened the lid to the grill to find a mouse, alive and well, chomping on the charred remains of Sunday's hamburgers.  Things I don't do well with: rodents and spiders.

Friends

Funny how we share such a small part of our lives with our friends, but what a lasting impression they leave. These girls were my roommates my freshman year at BYU, and some of my favorite people, even though the annual Christmas card is about the only way we keep in touch these days. 

 I got a wedding announcement from one of them this week (Shirley).  She's had a rough few years to say the least.  Her husband passed away from a heart attack a few years ago (he was only 38) leaving her to raise five little ones on her own.

I remember so well when she was dating her husband, James.  I remember going with her shopping for her wedding dress.  She seemed to have such a charmed life.  So sad.  And now she's found love again and is getting married next month.  Her fiance is also a widower.  He lost his wife suddenly to leukemia (she died only 9 days after being admitted to the hospital), and also has five children.  They are going to have a full house.

Life can be so hard.  I'm grateful that trials don't last forever.

I certainly miss my friends from the past, however long ago we were in close contact, and wish I was as close to them now as I was then.  But they are still my friends, and I still care, and I still want to celebrate their joys and mourn with their sorrows.

Congratulations, Shirley!  I wish you all the best.

Wish List

I currently have two big things on my wish list--a Dyson vacuum cleaner and an Ipad.  So, I want to hear from those of you who own these things.

I mainly want the Ipad because I want an e-reader (I just discovered how to check out e-books from the library on my ipod touch), but I use my ipod touch so much as my personal organizer, task list, menu planner, etc., that I wonder if I can find as many uses for the Ipad.  I saw someone watching a movie on one at the gym the other day. The big concern I have is that it'll be too big to carry around with me and so I won't really use it because I won't have it.  What are your experiences?

I want a Dyson because I want a good vacuum!  Are they worth the money?  What model do you have?  I think it's so cool that the little vacuum tube thingy is in the handle and you don't have to do any reconfiguring to use it.

So, my friends, send me your reviews.  :)

Goals

Last week in church I was flipping through an old notebook I had taken for the kids to draw in and I found an old list I had written with some of my goals.  Funny thing about it is that I still have the same goals.  They never seem to change.  Here is the list (and the status report):

1- Spiritual:
     a. morning and evening personal prayer (usually say evening prayer; need to remember morning prayer)
     b. daily scripture study (haven't been reading for the last couple weeks; recommitting today)

2- Best mom ever (I need some serious work on this one)
    a. family prayer (usually say them at night)
    b. family scriptures (usually read together at night)
    c. family home evening (I've been a slacker for the past several weeks)
    d. family dinners (everyone's got to eat, right?)
    e. homework (we do okay; need to make sure we do preschool 5 times a week with Kenzie and Aiden needs to read a book 5 days a week; currently we do it 3-4 days a week)
    f.  play time (I definitely need to work on this one)

3-Practice the piano 3 hrs per week (I'm proud to say I've been getting up at 6am before the kids wake up and practicing 5-6 days a week.  Wahoo!)

4- Scrapbook/Design
    a. Scrapbook one page per week (check)
    b. Design a kit per month (haven't been doing it at all)

5- Workout 3 hrs per week (check)

Overall, I'm doing pretty well on my goal list.  The four areas for improvement are playtime with the kids, personal prayers and scripture study, and creating my digital scrapbook kits.  Ready, set, go!

Lost and Found

Rich got home early the other day.  It was a pleasant surprise.  I was filling him in on the day, when I realized that Mackenzie had "disappeared" since he'd gotten home.  I immediately began a house wide search and I could not find her anywhere.  So, I started to panic a bit, got Rich, and we expanded the search; maybe she had sneaked outside?   We went up to the park are all around the house outside, and still no Mackenzie.  Our neighbors even joined the search.

I went back inside one more time to turn the house upside down, and I finally found her, sound asleep in the toy box with the lid closed...

Poop!

WARNING: this is a post about poop, so if you have a weak stomach, you may want to skip this one. ;) 

My poor little Aiden has been having an upset tummy for the past 3-4 weeks, and so I decided it was high time to take him into the doctor on Monday.  Well, getting into seeing the pediatrician is next to impossible and I think the next available appointment was not until June, so, we went to see the PA in the office.  I thought he was very thorough and did a good job.  He thought the most likely culprit was constipation, and put Aiden on a bowel clean out regiment, which started out with Exlax twice a day.


Rather than worrying about Aiden having a problem at school, we modified slightly the dosage and were only giving it to him at nighttime.  He's been able to "go" as soon as he wakes up in the morning and has felt pretty good during the day.  Last night I gave him his 3rd dose of Exlax.

This morning at 4:21am I was awakened by my sweet little guy going to the bathroom.  After about 10 minutes, I got up to see if he needed some help. (He's 6 and is pretty self-sufficient in the bathroom).  The door was locked and when I asked if he needed help, he said he'd had a poo-poo accident.  I groaned and asked him to unlock the door.

When I went in, I could see the pants, but I missed the, um, couple of spills on the rug and I stepped right in them.  Not good.  So, I washed my feet in the sink and then helped my little buddy into the bathtub.  I was just going to wash his feet, so the water was running and warm, but I decided that as long as we were there, we might as well give him a quick shower.  I flipped the switch for the shower and gave the poor little guy a cold surprise.  He yelped!  In my defense, it was 4:30 am in the morning.

Anyway, I ran the rugs and pants down to the washing machine while he washed up, and then got him ready for bed, again.  I crawled back into bed at 4:54am, but sadly, by that point, it was useless.  On the bright side, I got an early start on a very busy day.

Sadly, the day ended the same way it started.  I was cleaning up the dishes and looked over at my one year old, who was standing at the baby gate with his poopy diaper hanging behind him.  He and the kitchen floor also needed some clean-up.  It was definitely one of those days.

Happy Anniversary and Random Thoughts On Marriage

I can't believe it's already been eight years since Rich and I were married.  We were married in the Salt Lake Temple, where we were married for time and all eternity, not just until death do you part.  I think this has given us a much stronger commitment to each other and to our marriage.  Our life together has been good.

I think one of the reasons that so many marriages fail is that people aren't really committed to each other.  So many people "test drive" their relationship beforehand.  Frankly, there are just too many differences between men and women and people in general that it's easy for anyone to fail if they aren't committed in the first place.  And let's face it, people "test drive" because they aren't committed.  Life is hard enough as it is.

Saturday morning I went to an MSA (aka the med student spousal support group) brunch.  The guest speaker is the President of the "grown-up" version of our club.  She recommended that we all be our spouse's best friend because if we're not, there are plenty of people out there who want to be.  That kind of freaked me out.  I don't like the idea that someone else might have their eye on MY husband.  Crazy!

A long time ago, Rich and I made a rule that we could not go out to lunch with a member of the opposite sex alone.  I think this is a great rule because it avoids any appearances of anything improper.  I worked with some people not too many years ago who ended up being really good friends, and went out together all the time.  They were both married to other people.  I don't know if anything was going on, but the rumors in the office were flying! 

Anyway, my point is that I am so so grateful for Rich and for his commitment to us.  As I said before, life is good.

Back at the ranch, we had such an awesome weekend celebrating our anniversary.  On Friday, our good friends, the Heslops, actually volunteered to babysit our kids for us so we could go out to dinner.  So awesome!  Rich took me to The Melting Pot, my favorite restaurant.  And, it was as good as ever.

Saturday, my parents took over the babysitting duty and gave us the rest of the weekend off.  THANK YOU!! We went golfing in the afternoon, and I actually had a decent game.  I almost think I'm starting to get it.  Then, we went to Rich's class party and enjoyed visiting with his classmates and their spouses. 

Sunday morning was also so nice because I didn't have to worry about getting three little ones ready for church, and I could actually listen once we got there.  I was sad to have missed Mother's Day at church with them because the little Primary kids always sing a cute little Mother's Day song.  But it was nice to have an unstressful day at church.

Anyway, Happy Anniversary Rich!  I love you.

I Am Not a Texter

I am not a texter.  I must be getting OLD!  :)

I prefer to communicate over the phone, in person, and even via email, so I don't have a texting package on my phone.  Every text costs me $0.20.  The cheapest text package is $5 and I usually only have a buck or two worth of texting in any given month.  I fully support using texts as a convenient way to make big annoucements to lots of people, like new phone numbers, the birth of a baby, updates on someone in the hospital, or whatever. 

But, if you're sending me a time sensitive invitation to come play at the park, I probably won't get it in time.  If you are lost and trying to find me, call me.  I promise I'll give you good directions.  If you're texting to remind me about something, send me an email.  I am not a texter.