let's just put this conversation on hold for 10 years!

Jordan: I know who I am going to marry.
Me: Who? Lucas Martin? (just hoping on my part)
Jordan: No, he's not in the church ( the boy in question...not Lucas:)
Me:but you have to marry a boy in the church so you can get married in the temple
Jordan: well, he's not in the church (we'll tackle that one later)
Me: Is it Keegan? (no) Is it Mikey? (the one I suspect the whole time-he's pretty cute)
Jordan : (with a grin)-yes. And he even wants to take me on a date
Me: oh really-how do you know that?
Jordan: Omar, Nicholas and all the kids told me.
Me: what is a date?
Spencer pipes in: when you get a babysitter for us and you go out somewhere
Jordan: I don't exactly know. But Mikey is going to take me.
Me: What are you going to do on your date?
Jordan: I think I want to go shopping
Me: I don't think boys want to go shopping on a date.
Jordan: well....
Me: when are you going?
Jordan:. ummm I think when I am 7 or 8
Me: well, you can't go until you are 16'
Jordan: ok.... then she runs off.... to play, thank goodness!!


I am a little worried though-play make up, she was posing for me to take her pictures today, talking about dates...what is happening to my little girl?

But whew....she'll still play with dolls, ponies, pet shops and loves princesses. Let's keep her little as long as possible.

"making a pattern"

I came home from Enrichment one night last week with some plastic plates. They had been cleaning out the closet and had a bunch of stuff set out for us to take. I grabbed some plastic green plates, some other paper plates, etc. So when I brought them in the house the next day, Landon took them instantly to play with. He ran into the living room and started to set them out in a row. I asked him what he was doing and said "making a pattern"

He and Spence made the plates in a row, then Jordan had to get in on the action. Soon the plates were rocks helping the kids get onto the "boat" which was the couch. The were quite entertaining for quite some time.

Whew, made it onto the boat away from the sea monster-yeah-the one who won't put the camera down.

get on the boat...quick!
Here's how it all started:

lots of fun with plastic plates!
I love these little feet! look close, you can see Lanny's little wart on his foot.

Ahhh, what fun on a Sunday evening!

I thought I had a high pain tolerance.....

until this pain hit and I have had many crying fits in the last few days.

I woke up last week with a combination of major cramps-and very rarely get them- and some weird lower back hip sort of pain. Sharp pinching feeling along with an aching burning sensation. Very strange.

Felt better the next day- then by Friday I was even ok enough to take the kids to the movies. It was still there, but much less. Saturday was ok, but then again Sunday it was worse.

Woke up on Monday in pain. Took the kids to the Blacks and ran errands, took Jordan to a friends, then went home and had a hot shower and laid down while Landon napped and Spencer watched a movie. I tried to function the best I could while walking like an old lady all hunched over.

Then I started making dinner and things got ugly. I put a sheet of fries in the oven-actually a stone which is heavier-and when I went to turn them, my back gave out and I dropped the stone and they all fell on the floor. Here starts one of the crying fits.

Darin took over and let me lay down for the rest of the night. I did try to eat dinner at the table but the pain was excruciating.

Darin gave me a blessing before bed. I was assured the doctors would figure out what was wrong and told to listen to inspiration from Heavenly Father. Had a long night of hurting-with a couple spells of sleep. In the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep, I thought that I would much rather be healing from a c-section. Seriously.

I don't mean to complain, just giving the facts. I hurt. I seriously hurt.

Went to the dr. this morning. She thinks I may have bulging discs causing a nerve to be pinched at the root causing pain. I wondered why it would be only on one side, so I guess it depends where the nerve is located. She gave me some pain pills and a steriod to take. I went and had an xray, so hopefully it will show something.

So my friend Carla kept the kids and took Spencer to school and kept Landon all afternoon. She even brought all the kids home including the 2 I watch. She's my angel. I took a pain pill and then I laid on the couch all afternoon. Watched Dr. Phil about bullies and Oprah who had the kids of Wanda Barzee who helped kidnap Elizabeth Smart.

I think I am going to try to make the kids some dinner. Maybe...saw a cute thing in a Family Fun at the doctor-put uncooked spagetti in hot dog chunks and cook it-comes out like little squid. My kids like both, so hopefully it will go over well.

I only took 1 pain pill and it didn't work as well as hoped, so I'm taking 2 at bedtime!

But my biggest problem my yet come today: What do I watch tonight? Lost, Biggest Loser or American Idol?

Some insights after doing this original post:

So, I just read the Nie Nie dialogue blog and am feeling pretty bad. How can I complain and carry on like I am going to die, when this woman is dealing with SOOO much more than I can ever imagine. She is growing skin on her back to graft to her neck so has a large hump-she even named it!! Her pain is probably 1000 time worse than mine. Goodness, she is such an AMAZING woman-so faithful and always looks on the bright side. I can do that-I am in pain, but I had a REST today. I have a wonderful husband who helped me and am amazing friend who took care of my kids and the ones I watch. Holy Cow am I blessed. I'll get better-I know it and I won't take my body for granted!!

The movies

I am sitting here at my friend Lea's house doing this while the kids play. We went to the movies this morning. It was pretty cute. We went to see Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeaqual. It was hysterical. Watching the kids laugh hysterically was about as funny as the movie. We had the kids in a row, except Landon and Spencer on one side of me. They all-my 3 and Lea's 3-had a little kids pack with popcorn and a drink. They were so cute. The movie actually was better than I had expected. I haven't seen the first one, so it was a pleasant surprise. Landon also did way better than I expected. It was his first time in the theater since he was a tiny baby when we would go to the free summer movies. He was so happy with his little pack and it kept him happy for a while. All the kids sat in a booster as well. So Landon was good until about the last half hour of the movie. Then he got up and started to wander up and down the aisle and at one point I couldn't see him and he was under the seats. I finally held him for a while and he finished out the movie. Luckily he fell asleep in the car so he has been asleep on Lea's couch for about an hour and a half!! I love fun days like this especially when we get to spend time with Lea and the kids before they go to England. Kids are happy, mommy's happy....what more can you want.

cone fun

I went to two concerts at Rose Hill this week. My friend Carla's little girl Kaalie, as well as the Regan, Patrick's sister (the little boy I watch) are in the chorus and strings. So Landon and I went to the concerts. Now, this is usually his nap time, so I took a risk. He did pretty good for the first few minutes, but then got pretty antsy. We found the cones in the back of the gym. Kept him happy for a while. He told me he was "making a pattern." More to come on that in a future post.

Can I lift this pile?

The concerts were 2 days in a row. The second day he knew what to do. These pics are actually the first day.

Makes a good chair. Well, if you have a tiny bum:)
another pattern.

A brilliant child!!

It's official...I have a brilliant little boy. Spencer has really been into his little workbook I got him for the alphabet and numbers. He really loves it. At one point, he asked me to do it with him I went over to see what he had been doing.

Such concentration.
I just love seeing these little fingers work.
Here's why I think the kid is brilliant. This is the page he had been doing. I was amazed!! He had figured out that he needed to match the colors to the letters in the pictures. He has never done anything like this before. Call me crazy, but I just think that it is so cool that he figured it out completely on his own.
I just love to look at his face when he is working. He really concentrates.
And I love to look at his little fingers while he works.
Ahhhh, the mind is such a wonderful thing. So thankful for my inquisitive, smart little minds I have in my house...the possibilities are endless!!!

Our Saturday

We had a full and busy Saturday. We decided first to go say goodbye to Tai Shan before he makes his long trek back to China. There was a special "goodbye" for memebers of the Zoo today before it opened. I told the kids about it, so they insisted we go. We had such a fun time, despite the cold and getting up early, but I am do glad we went. It will be sooo crowded next week when they have a special thing for the public.

We got so lucky today with the pandas. We had awesome views of all 3 pandas. The baby Tai Shan, well, he's not a baby anymore. He's 4 and a half-just a couple months older than Spencer. Was very busy. He was eating tons of bamboo and walking around. I think they must have liked the cold.

The mom was wandering around, then the dad was taking a nap. I was keeping track of Landon, and apparently missed a huge yawn when daddy woke up. Pretty typical I guess-daddy taking a nap:) We watched him eat and wander back to his house. Don't think you can get much closer to a panda than we were-even with the glass it was really cool. He was eating a fruit popsicle type thing.

The kids loved seeing the pandas. Jordan carried around her stuffed panda the whole time.
Here's the daddy eating.
I thought this was a cool shot, but haven't cropped it yet. Looks cool when I crop on the camera. So you get to see some strange lady:)

After we left the pandas, we went to all the indoor places. We loved the reptile house, great ape house and spent forever in the small mammal house-we stayed by the meerkats forever. The kids loved them-they were so cute. They would run up to the glass and jump up right in front of the kids, which caused them to burst into giggles. Seriously funny and entertaining. We stood there for a good 20 minutes. I was enjoying the sheer pleasure of the kids that I didn't even bother getting my camera out. I was laughing too much.

Cute Iguana. Did you know that and iquana can get bigger than this? 4-5 feet long!! And they are protected in Cuba. Darin told me that they walk around all over the place at Guantanamo Bay and you can't do anything to them. He said they will cross the roads, and if they stop then you have wait until they decided to move.

Here's a face only a mother could love.

After the zoo we came home and got some stuff done. Here's a list:

Kiddos: picnic in living room watching a movie, played on computer, played with toys, ate lots of snacks, etc. Spencer "helped" me with the car and ran around outside a while.

Darin: had a nap (he's been under the weather), put plastic stuff over the windows to keep out the drafts, played with kids.

Wendi: took the crib to a friend to use, cleaned out the car-and I mean really cleaned out the car. Since I had the carseats out I figured I would go vacuum it out. I did 3 cycles of the vacuum! I took all the seats out-well, I took 2 out and flipped the other ones up. When I got home, I wiped down the whole car with lysol wipes and windexed all the windows. I am in the process of washing 2 carseats, so the car will not be a petree dish so much anymore!

Landon: got busy with a marker...washable luckily!!!

Whew!!! We were tired and hungry by the end of our afternoon, so we decided to go to the Olive Garden for dinner since we had a couple gift cards. (In the end a lady gave us coupon as well and we paid only about 8.00 for our whole dinner!) It was quite pleasant!!!! We actually have not been out to eat in almost a month because the last time the kids were less than good, which is an understatement. But after calming Jordan down after her fit due to her unfulfilled demand of going to Silver Diner, we made it to the car and went on our way.

Oh my goodness-the kids were excellent. I dare say it was the best they have done in a restaurant. There was a wait and they sat quietly on a bench and looked at the kids menu. When we were seated, the biggest problem was the chairs on wheels moving too much, and Landon getting up. Jordan and Spencer colored quietly on their papers, we played tic-tac-toe, and ate a yummy dinner!!

Spencer and Landon have spent all day asking questions. Where are we? What are you doing? What is that man doing? Why are they doing that? In the car Spencer was asking non stop questions about Avatar. He is fascinated. I wish they had a kid version because he would love it. His interest was fueled by the McDonalds toys. Darin was exasperated, but it was quite funny to me:) My whole day every day is the boys asking tons of questions, so Darin needed a turn!!

When we got home, the kids actually took a bath together and got along so well!! Besides some water on the floor, bath time went well. The kiddies were playing and were so happy just to be together. Ahhh love it!!

And finally.....I just found an AWESOME photo editing sight and am having a blast with it. Thanks Lynette-I LOVE it!!! picnik.com. Check it out...totally awesome!!

Hope you had a fun Saturday, too!!! Here's to a great Sunday!!