Dale and Sonnet's House

I survived the hardest summer of my life...

2011-10-04T20:52:00.005-06:00

As most of you know, about a week after my last post, I had a miscarriage at 14 weeks. It was very difficult and I was finally recovering emotionally when I found out I was pregnant again! I was so excited...until I found out I had a condition called subchorionic hemorrhaging and I lost that pregnancy at 12 weeks. It was devestating. I am finally recovering from both incidents. I still cry about the miscarriages when I think about seeing the ultrasounds of the babies I never got to hold, or when I see a new baby and realize I never got to see mine, or when I remember that the one I lost in April was due next week. Then I cry my eyes out until I have no tears left. But, I'm done hiding. I need to write about my experiences; I'm not sure why. I hope it will help put those sad, painful feelings to bed; but also, I hope that someone out there who is going through the same thing will read this and not feel so alone. (If that's you, I promise you that it's hard and takes a long time, but it gets better. The pain doesn't go away, but it gets duller.)
I have four other children, each with normal pregnancies. I had friends who had had miscarriages, had heard about them, but I had no idea--did not even fathom--how difficult, sad, and painful (emotionally and physically) miscarriages could be. To any of you who I was less than sensitive to during a miscarriage, I truly apologize. I am so sorry that you had to go through something like that.
The hardest thing about miscarriage is that most people have no idea what you've just gone through and that you have to do it pretty much alone. It's a death without a funeral, family gathering, or sympathy flowers and cards. You're mourning but no one knows and no one understands why you act the way you do. It hurts in a deep emotional and psychological pain that is completely unexplainable. The best I can do in describing it is a pain that you can't pinpoint and although it gets better, it doesn't go away. There is no 'take two of these and call me in the morning.' And, to add to the pain, you get to explain what happened every time anyone asks about the 'new little bundle of joy' on its way. Without my faith that everything will be made alright--perfect--in the end (whenever that is!), I don't know how I would cope. Even that faith does not take away the need for mourning, the sleepless nights with a tear-soaked pillow, or the pain in my heart. I just know that someday, I won't feel that way and that someday, I'll get to see my babies.
So, this is the story of my spring and summer.
In late February, we found out that we would be having a baby (or so we thought) in mid-October. We had been trying for a while to get pregnant and were pretty excited. I went to my cousin's wedding on April 9th and was spotting very lightly. I didn't think much of it because I had spotting with previous pregnancies with no troubles. But, on Sunday, I started having cramps and thought I'd better get things checked out, just in case. On Monday morning, I made an appointment for later that afternoon. At the doctor's office, they checked all my vital signs and sent me right over for an ultrasound. I still remember seeing a little baby without a heartbeat on the monitor. The worst part was waiting alone, hoping that I'd seen things incorrectly and that everything was fine, but knowing deep down that things weren't fine. The technician didn't say a word during the sonogram and I had to wait about 10-15 minutes before the doctor came and told me that I'd had a miscarriage. The baby measured small and hadn't been growing normally. I had a D&C the next day. It was so hard to come home and tell the kids that we wouldn't be having a baby after all. They were sad, but they recovered pretty quickly. I did, too. I was sad, but I felt pretty much back-to-normal within a few weeks. I wasn't ready to say for sure that we weren't having any more kids, so I didn't do anything to prevent another pregnancy.
A couple of months passed and then in the first week in July, I found out that I was expecting again! I felt so happy and reassured. We went to Moab with family and friends the next weekend. We went rafting on Saturday and had lots of fun planned for the next few days. Unfortunately, on Sunday morning, I started bleeding heavily and figured I was having another miscarriage. I stayed in bed most of the day crying, but by evening, I was feeling well enough to go on a picnic dinner. Once we got to the mountain, though, I started bleeding profusely and passing huge (apple- to cantaloupe-sized) bloodclots. Dale and I left everyone else on the mountain to go to the ER. I was doing okay; sad, but resigned that I'd had a miscarriage, until they sent me to get a sonogram to make sure all the tissue had passed. In the sonogram, we saw a live, healthy fetus and our hopes went up. Then the doctor told us that it was a miscarriage in progress and that the baby wouldn't last a week, and our hopes went crashing back down. He said to go back to my doctor at home in a week to make sure there was nothing left in my uterus. Well, a week later, I went to my doctor and they saw a live, healthy fetus that had grown and showed no signs of being affected by the bleeding and clots. I was then diagnosed with subchorionic hemmorhaging--a condition where the placenta does not attach completely to the wall of the uterus, which causes bleeding and clotting. The doctor said that most people with SCH bleed their entire pregnancy and usually deliver early, but the baby does fine. She said that there was a chance that I'd lose the baby and that I'd need to be on bedrest until the bleeding stopped or slowed down significantly.
After a week on bedrest, I decided to go to my mother's house so my parents could help take care of my children. I could get up to go to the bathroom, eat, and shower. I wasn't supposed to lift things or have any kind of exercise. After a week at my mom's, I met with my new doctor and liked him a lot. He talked with me and said he didn't think I'd need to be on bedrest, I'd just need to take it easy. He also didn't think he'd need to see me every week, like my previous doctor believed. Then he did an ultrasound. After seeing how many bloodclots I had (so many that they were squishing the baby and he worried how they might affect growth), he decided that I'd need to come in every week and I had to schedule and appointment with radiology for a more in-depth ultrasound. But, the baby was growing well, measured at 12 weeks, moved and kicked a lot, and looked like a real baby, not a sea monkey. I warned my mom that seeing the ultrasound and then losing the baby was much harder than not seeing it (based on my feelings from when I thought I'd had a miscarriage earlier without seeing the baby), but she wanted to see it. She cried on the way out of the hospital with the realization that her grandbaby might not make it. I didn't cry that day. I only cried for a few minutes the next day when I miscarried. Now, I cry just thinking about that day. I want to hold that baby so bad; I want that child in my family; I want to get to know the little one that I loved so much. Why couldn't I have held that baby, just once? Back to that day, I was so hopeful that things were going to be okay. Before that, I was resigned to the idea that I'd probably lose this baby. But when I saw that it was growing well and that it was still hanging in there, I thought that maybe everything was going to turn out fine. The doctor said that I'd need to pass those clots for the baby to have room to grow. My husband and I prayed that I'd be able to pass the clots so that things would be alright. The next morning, my mom went to work and left me with the kids at home. My dad was out of town working and Dale was still in Idaho. I started passing bloodclots around 10:30 am. Then I started having pains that felt a lot like the first stages of labor, but I thought that they were just helping to pass the bloodclots and kept telling myself "you can get through this. It hurst now, but it's helping the baby and you can do this." I didn't realize until I was sitting in the bathroom unable to move or speak for the pain that I was in real labor and that this wasn't going to end the way I hoped. My mom came home about 5 minutes before I delivered that baby into the toilet. It was the worst day of my life. I had to go through labor and delivery all alone and I didn't get a cute little baby in the end. I didn't even cry until I told Dale what happened, and even then it was for maybe a minute. I was just numb and knew that once I started to cry, I wouldn't stop for days. I went into the doctor's office so they could make sure everything had passed. There were still several clots in my uterus and so they started cleaning them out. I think it started as just removing a couple of easy-to-reach clots and moved up to basically a D&C--an unmedicated D&C. It was very painful, but I still didn't cry. I just couldn't. I couldn't feel anything. I went home and went to bed.
The next morning, I had a little bit of a fever, but dismissed it as nothing because it went away and was only 100 degrees. Later that afternoon, my fever came back and I decided I'd better call the doc. He said to come on in to the hospital and get some IV antibiotics and they'd watch me for 12 hours. Well, to make a long story short, I ended up being there for about 40 hours. I had an infection in the lining of my uterus caused from the bleeding. The doctor said that the bloodclots created a highway for bacteria right up to my uterine lining, where they'd thrive. So, I got to sit at the hospital alone and feel sorry for myself because I was all alone and I'd just had a miscarriage. I was not a very happy patient that first day, especially after I found out my stay was being extended and I hope those nurses forgive me for my behavior. It didn't help that I only got about 8 hours of sleep during the entire 40 hours that I was there. (I HATE hospital beds!) I entered the hospital on Saturday afternoon and left on Monday morning. I watched a lot of TV and read two novels the next week and Dale came and got the kids and me the following weekend. Then I got to go home to everyone asking about the pregnancy and how the baby was faring. It was a rough couple of weeks.
With the first miscarriage, Dale didn't go to any of my appointments and hadn't seen the ultrasound pictures of the baby so he didn't really get too affected by it. With the second one, he saw two ultrasounds of the baby and I saw three or four. In so many ways, I wish I would have miscarried that first day the bleeding started before I saw any sonogram. It hurt so much worse with each sonogram that I saw. Dale was really sad with the second lost pregnancy. He said he didn't really understand why I was so sad with the first one until he saw the picture/video of the second one. He said that made it real for him; it made him realize that a little being that we had made died. I feel so bad for him because I made him tell everyone what had happened. I didn't feel like reliving it, but I didn't even think about how he felt. I didn't even stop to think that he was hurting, too. At least I got to stay in my room and cry for a couple of days. He had to go back to work and act like everything was okay, besides having to call friends and family and tell them what happened and field questions about me, the pregnancy, and the baby from coworkers. (They all knew I was on bedrest because he took a couple of days off to help me before I went to my mom's house.)
So, here I am today. Most days I do well and don't even think about my lost little babies. But when I see an ultrasound picture, pregnant woman, or new baby all those feelings come flooding back. At work the other day, I realized that my first pregnancy was due next week. I started bawling! (Luckily, it only lasted for about five minutes.) I've been thinking and crying a lot about those miscarriages this week, but the two or three weeks before that I didn't cry even once. It's getting better over time. I wish that I didn't have to go through what I did, but because of it I have so much sympathy for those who have gone/go through this. Miscarriage is something that is so extremely painful, but everyone talks about it so casually, like it's a normal part of life. I've learned that I need to be so much more sensitive and kind to others because you don't know what they're going through. I'm so thankful for friends who've come forward and told me about their miscarriages because it gave me strength to see that they made it through and so could I. I hope that I can come through this stronger and not broken. Kinder and not jaded. Time can only tell.

Elias

2011-04-06T16:34:00.002-06:00

Okay, I admit it--I'm awful at keeping up on this blog. But that's okay, because by now no one reads it anymore! I'm going to keep writing when I can and want to write, but it's for me, not anyone in cyberspace so I don't really care if no one reads it anymore (she tells herself to make herself feel better!). Alright, here I go... Elias has been such fun to get to know. In some ways, he has a very strong personality and likes to be in charge and in other ways, he is a complete follower and will do whatever the 'leader' in the room is doing. He is so funny the way he acts and says things, but he gets really angry if anyone dares to laugh at him. He is ALL boy and loves trucks, motorcyles, big machinery, guns, army men, etc. He learned what a bazooka was from his older brother, (playing army men with him) and so at 18 months, one of his first words was 'bazooka' and he'd walk around with a construction noodle (like a short swim noodle with a stiff middle) on his shoulder making shooting noises. He loves to laugh and finds humor in so many instances that we'd miss otherwise. He has a very real sense of right and wrong and loves to verify that certain things are 'nice' or 'mean' or 'good' or 'bad.' He loves to be with me and do whatever I'm doing, but he's also very good at using his imagination and entertaining himself. He's never really watched movies or TV much and I think because of it, he's better at playing pretend than the other kids. He can sit for hours with random toys making up endless stories. He reminds me of 'Andy' on Toy Story. I can't wait to get to know him better as he grows! I love him SO much and know he'll grow up to be someone great! (kinda like all my kids!)

Scripture Insights

2011-02-11T17:28:00.002-07:00

So, I've decided to follow the lead of my friend, Lee Pettijohn, and share the guidance I receive from the scriptures with my cyber-friends.
This year in church we are studying the New Testament. I don't exactly follow the study guide we have (I teach music to the kids during adult Sunday School), but I do read from the New Testament every night before I go to sleep.
The other night, I was reading in Matthew 6 where Jesus is teaching the Apostles to give their lives fully to teaching his gospel and stop worrying about the day-to-day, working part of their lives. "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?"
(Now, I know that this scripture was speaking specifically to the Apostles, who were called to give up their professions, follow Jesus, and preach the gospel full-time, and that not many of us can do the same, but the principle is the same.)
I should note that prior to reading, I had been worrying about my never-ending list of things to do, wondering how I was going to be a good mother my 4 children, and feeling sorry for myself because we still haven't sold our house and I'm still a single-mom 5 days a week. I realized while I was reading this chapter in Matthew that I needed to focus less on how clean my house was and how long my to-do list was, and focus more on the things that matter most! I need to be spending my time and energy teaching and playing with my children, helping them learn the gospel, giving service to others, and learning the gospel for myself. I also realized that Heavenly Father loves ME, that He knows ME, that He will give me what I need. As long as I am doing what I can, I just need to trust that He'll take care of me.
And, that's my little insight for the day!

Elora

2011-01-09T19:22:00.002-07:00

I know it's been a long time, but I will do my spotlight on my children, as promised, and Elora is next.
I guess to start off with her, I'll explain what her name means and why we chose to name her Elora. I was reading a baby name book when I was pregnant with her and really liked the name Eleora (I believe it's pronounced El ee oh ra), which is Hebrew for the Lord is my light. I loved the meaning and thought that would be a great reminder to her to where to look for salvation and direction. We decided to drop the second 'e' because we were worried that people would have a hard time pronouncing and spelling her name.
Elora is definitely a light in our family. She loves to perform in front of people and recently told me that she wants to be an actress when she grows up, or maybe even before she grows up! In addition, she's always wanted to be a mother and has a very strong motherly instinct. She loves to help take care of our friends' babies and is the first to volunteer to rock, entertain, or feed any baby in apparent distress. She loves to dance and sing and just got an MP3 player for Christmas, so she is often found both dancing and singing with earphones on. She can have a bit of a pouty side to her and has been known to cry in her room for at least 45 minutes when she doesn't get what she wants. (The crying doesn't change mom or dad's mind, but it must make her feel better, and when she's happy she comes back downstairs, ready to entertain us again!)
She is such a girly-girl! Her favorite color is pink and she loves baby dolls, Barbie dolls, princesses, dress-up, and playing house. She is learning to read and likes to do that, too, as long as it was her idea and not mom's! We look forward to watching her grow into a wonderful woman that can accomplish many things and be a light to others as she follows the light of the Lord!

Dalan

2010-10-01T15:03:00.003-06:00

I said that I'd like to write about the good qualities of my children, so I'll just go in birth order, which makes Dalan next.

When I was pregnant with Dalan, I got the feeling that he was very strong-willed and had great potential to be a force for good, but that I would need to teach him the right things and it may be difficult. That premonition has definitely been seen to be true. He is extremely determined and strong-minded. But, I have also seen him forgive others quickly, treat a young child with kindness and gentleness, and he always apologizes sincerely (after he calms down and realizes he hurt someone's feelings).

Dalan has a very quick mind and loves to learn. When Kydee was in kindergarten and learning to read 'word families,' like cat, bat, rat, hat...he caught on faster than she did and he learned to read right along with her. Part of that was because he didn't want Kydee to be able to do something that he couldn't. He was the same way with riding a bike without training wheels. We taught Kydee to ride a two-wheel bicycle and a couple of months later, Dalan was training-wheel-free, too.

Dalan has a very adventurous spirit and loves to try new things, especially if those things involve trying to defy gravity, test the limits of his digestion, or gross his sisters out. Luckily, all of our trips to the emergency room have always ended without stitches, casts, or staples. He has had to have an IV for the time he drank 3/4 of a bottle of children's cold medicine, but he got to watch cartoons for 4 hours while I kept an eye on him in the ER, so I don't think he minded it too much.

Dalan, I love you and know that you have great potential! If you keep learning from your mistakes and follow the good examples around you, I know that you'll be a good influence in the world.

A girl who inspires me...

2010-09-29T21:07:00.003-06:00

My daughters love American Girl dolls (http://www.americangirl.com/) and to enter a drawing for one(Felicity--they're discontinuing her!) found at http://www.mommafindings.com/2010/09/toy-news-american-girl-announces-plans.html, I have to blog about a girl I know who inspires me. It was difficult to pick just one, because I have known so many girls and women who inspire me to be more thankful, more graceful, more generous, more joyous, and more caring.
I finally chose to write about my daughter, Kydee. She is a very tenacious thing. When she sets her mind to do something, you can bet that she'll do it. When she was only 3 years old, she was asked to recite a scripture (John 3:16) for the entire church congregation. Other children were also asked to recite scriptures or short little statements about what they'd learned that year in their church classes. They were all told about three weeks ahead of time what their assignments were. Their teachers would be there to help them to tell them what to say. Kydee did not want anyone to help her. She said she wanted to read her part by herself. I reminded her that she couldn't read and that the only way to do it without any help would be to memorize the whole thing. She insisted that we practice every day, a few times a day. She memorized the scripture long before the three weeks were up and even had the right inflection and pace when she recited it! (Remember, this is a 3 year old!)
Later, when she was 8 years old and a Brownie Girl Scout, she wanted to go to Girl Scout camp. It cost several hundred dollars (which I didn't have), so I told her if she could earn half of the money, I'd pay for the other half. She got right to work. She sold over 300 boxes of Girl Scout cookies, she sold several of her toys at a yard sale, and she had a pop stand in our front yard. She earned enough to go to camp, plus she had $20 left over.
Not only is Kydee good at accomplishing her goals, she's also very generous. We pay our children allowance. They get 10 cents/week/age, so Kydee, who's 9 gets 90 cents per week, Dalan gets 70, Elora 50, and Elias 20. It's not much, but it's enough to be able to buy a toy or two a year. We think it gives them good practice for saving, budgeting, etc. Anyway, Kydee is always donating her money to charitable causes. She gives to our church, to her siblings, to homeless people, and to humanitarian aid projects. She often gives 15-20 percent of what she earns and sometimes even gives more, which is extremely generous, especially when you compare her to adult's typical donations. She is always willing to share her candy, books, cake, stickers, etc with her siblings and friends.
One other thing that Kydee is gifted at is being willing to help others. I know I can count on her to help me around the house. She is always helping her brothers and sister, sometimes when they don't want her help! She notices when neighbors are weeding or raking leaves and always gets her work gloves on and goes and helps. I'm so thankful for Kydee and her example of what a great 'American Girl' can be.

That was really fun to write about one of my children. I think I'll do all of them, but not today. I'm tired!

Summer vacation! Beach pics...

2010-08-12T13:55:00.004-06:00

Quick update

2010-07-07T12:48:00.007-06:00

I don't have time for much of a blog post, but here's some pics of what we've been doing. We shingled the roof (by we, I mean my dad), and made the patio and flower beds. I'm busy being Super-Mom (as you can see by my outfit), and Dalan's been playing baseball. Well, I'm off to work on more projects and to clean my house!

Moab on Memorial Day

2010-06-06T22:02:00.004-06:00

For Memorial Day weekend, we went to Moab to help with my mom's cotton candy booth at the Moab Arts Festival and to have some fun playing on the rocks. We all took turns to try climbing. It was fun to see Micah and Kaylee and their kids, and Aunt Lori and Uncle Dan. We wish we could have spent more time there!

PS We wish Micah and Kaylee the best during this difficult time and are praying for Kaylee, the doctors that work on her, and her family! (Kaylee was diagnosed with cervical cancer last week.)

Monthly Update...

2010-05-12T01:34:00.003-06:00

After church on Mother's Day, we found out that Dale's parents were in West Valley City. We thought, "Hey, that's only three and a half hours away. Let's go visit with them!" And so, we did. We left at 2 in the afternoon and got home around midnight. Dale's parents were staying with his brother Charles and his family. His in-laws live close and have a veritable zoo at their house, so they decided to spend the day there. The kids loved seeing the animals--there were al pacas, llamas, camels, ponies, miniature horses, goats (including fainting goats), pigs, a yak, cows, chickens, geese, and rabbits. The camel in the picture with Dale was especially friendly and tried to give us kisses several times. He loved to follow everyone around.

Elora is on the verge of an obsession over My Little Ponies, so of course, her favorite animals were the ponies!

Kydee made friends with the horses that were generally known to be unfriendly and people-shy. She was quite proud of herself!

Dalan loved the little baby goats and they loved him. They would let him pick them up and pet them and they followed him all around the yard.

Elias' favorite animals were the chickens for two reasons. First, they were smaller than he was; and second, they were in a fenced yard so they couldn't get to him. The other animals, he was rather nervous about. (Although, by the end of the day, he decided the dogs and baby goats weren't so bad.)

Well, I've just realized that another month has gone by without me updating my blog. Why am I so bad at this??? Oh well!

It's almost two in the morning and I'm having some very pell-mell, helter-skelter thoughts, so I'm going to ramble. I was just thinking about how much I HATE being cold and how ironic it is that I live in Idaho and that I'm not looking forward to being here for at least 3 more winters. (Okay, let's face it; living in Idaho is like having 3 seasons of winter, so it's more like I'll be living through 9 more winters here! Ugh!) That reminds me of our yard (winter-snow-outside-yard, follow me?) and how much work I want to do out there. I want to build a patio and rock walkway, a play area, and some raised gardening beds so that I don't have to deal with weeds. Then I'm left wondering why I want to do all this, since it's only warm enough to go outside for 4 months of the year!

Oh, and speaking of pointless things, I was just thinking about cleaning my house. Sometimes I wonder why I bother, until I have a day like today. I spent most of the day in my room cleaning and sorting drawers and miscellaneous boxes and piles. Mom, you'll be glad to know that I've turned into you! I can't believe how much junk I found! It did feel good to get rid of stuff, come up with an organizational plan, and put the things that I kept away. It was just depressing that it literally took my entire day.

Which leads me to my next thought (depressing, taking a dang long time) about the computer! I just spent the last five hours on the computer transferring photos from our old computer to our new one, sorting through those pics, creating photo playing cards for Christmas presents (I had a coupon code that expires tomorrow), and checking email and facebook. It took forever! and now I feel guilty for wasting so much time!

I feel guilty a lot about my time. It seems like no matter what I choose to do with my time, I feel guilty for not doing something else. For example, when I clean my room, I feel guilty for not cleaning the rest of the house because that's what everyone sees, so why should I worry about my room?! When I clean the rest of the house, I feel guilty for not spending time with my kids having fun or teaching them things. When I spend time with my kids, I feel guilty for not working on the yard, or cleaning out the van, or cleaning the house, or making a nutitious, gourmet meal for dinner! Am I the only mom out there that's this crazy? I really hope not, but when I tell Dale about it, he just shakes his head and either gives me a look that tells me I am crazy, or he says I need to just be happy with whatever I choose to do!

Man, I am hungry! That happens to me whenever I stay up past 11:30. I try to go to bed and just hurry and fall asleep, but without fail, I have to get up and have some toast or cereal. (That's another thing that Dale thinks is wack-o about me--he says eating after 11pm is just plain weird.) Maybe it's because my mom always asked us if we needed something to eat before we went to bed, so I have this subconcious need to eat before I can sleep. (Yes, mom; I really can blame you for all my problems!)

Okay, I'm tired and hungry, so I'm going to sign off for tonight, or should I say for this morning, seeing that it's now 2:15am?

Moms, good luck out there! I appreciate all your stories of messes and mistakes because it helps me realize that I'm not alone. I hope that this little blog session where I just wrote whatever came into my mind helped you smile. (Heck, you were probably laughing at what a nutcase I am!) I look forward to reading about your misadventures!

Easter in Cedar City

2010-04-13T10:52:00.005-06:00

For spring break and Easter, the kids and I went to Cedar City.

My whole family was able to be there (except Eli, who's on a mission). It was lots of fun to spend time with everybody. We also got to go down to Las Vegas for a day to see Dale's parents and sister. The kids really miss their cousins, so it was fun to have so much time to play with them.

Friday we had an egg hunt near Leeds. Saturday morning we went to the egg hunt at the city park; Elora won a kite and both Kydee and Elora came home with tons of candy. Dalan decided he didn't want to get out of bed for it, so he and Elias stayed home with Uncle Amos and Uncle Micah (who also stayed in bed). I think Dalan was expecting the girls to just give up their candy, but we told him they didn't have to share since they did all the work. I think they each gave him a piece or two, and I hope he learned that staying in bed might not have been such a great idea. At noon, we went down by St George to a lava tube. It was a tunnel that went down quite a ways. Once we got to the end, it opened up into a pitch black, large room. We broke apart glow sticks and shook them all over. The walls, floor, and ceiling were covered in little dots of glowing light. Then we covered ourselves with the splatters, turned off all the flashlights, and played hide and seek. It was really cool-looking. I hear that there's places around here that you can do that, too. We'll have to try it with some friends.

Sunday we watched General Conference and ate a big Easter dinner. We headed home Monday morning, and I didn't even stop at IKEA on the way home. (Dale was so proud of my excellent will-power.) We will be taking a trip with everyone this summer to California, so we're all looking forward to spending time with them all again.

Murder Mystery Valentine's Dinner

2010-03-08T11:30:00.006-07:00

For Valentine's Day, I wanted to do something different, so I hosted a murder mystery dinner. I was a lot of fun. Here's a picture of the 'speakeasy.' We had a poker table in one corner, a black jack table in another, a bar, a buffet, and a few tables. I printed off some 1920's posters from the internet and hung them on the wall.

Here's some pics of the players.

We had Beef Scallopini, pasta, breadsticks, salad, pie, and spumoni for dinner, along with sparkling grape juice and IBC root beer.

It turns out that I was the murderer! But we were all pretty shady characters! Can't wait til the next one.

My funny kids

2010-03-08T11:08:00.005-07:00

Elora likes to try new foods and new flavor combinations. This is a picture of one of her latest; Mandarin oranges and cheese on chips. Silly girl!

Dale will probably die when he sees that I posted this picture of our youngest son, but I thought it was too cute not to share! Elora and he were playing downstairs and he came up with this on. Apparently he dressed himself and he refused to take it off for a long time. He kept spinning around and posing. It was too funny!

Here's Elias sans skirt, shawl, gloves and hat, looking like a rock star!

I kinda forgot...

2010-02-21T15:36:00.003-07:00

that I have a blog! So, what's new in my life? Dale started school in January and he's still working full-time, which means we rarely see each other. He goes to class from 7-10pm Mon, Tue, and Thur this semester and I work Wed night and Saturday all day. Ummm....other than that everything is pretty much the same.
Oh, wait--I have now started selling my bodily fluids for a profit (my plasma). It's not too bad, it's pretty much like donating blood, except it takes longer and they give you back your red blood cells. They provide free babysitting and so I get to get paid to sit and read a book for 45 minutes! Dale thinks I'm insane, but I can get $45/week, so I think it's worth it. I have also joined a "health club" where I work 2 1/2 hrs a week to get a free membership. The kids and I go swimming there at least twice/week and I'm trying to figure out my schedule so that I can work out at least three times/week. Why am I working out all of a sudden, you might ask? Well, not only do I need to get rid of this flab around my midsection (I promise; I have some--being 29 is catching up on me), but my sister and I are competing in the Great Urban Race this summer!
For those of you who've never heard of the Great Urban Race (let's face it--ALL of you) here's a quick explanation. It's similar to the Amazing Race TV show on a smaller scale. The Amazing Race races around 12 cities in several weeks and the teams have to complete certain tasks and figure out clues along the way, but the Great Urban Race has 12 clues/tasks in one city (we're going to compete in Seattle) and only lasts half a day. Oh, and the biggest difference is that in the Amazing Race, teams win $1 million, but in the GUR you win $300, and then can go to the finals and have a chance to win $10,000. Maybe if we run in this, we can apply to be on the Amazing Race and have a better chance at getting accepted! (We love that silly TV show and imagine ourselves traveling the world)
Our team name is The SuperMoms (I know, not too creative, but we had about two minutes to figure out a name). We have to wear matching uniforms, so we're going to dress as superhero moms. I'm designing an outfit with an apron, a cape, and rubber gloves. I'll post a picture as soon as I'm finished (not for a while). Ariane's been studying up on Seattle tour books and bus routes, so hopefully that'll help. I'm going to start studying soon, but I want to get the uniform out of the way.
Well, I'd better go make some dinner. If you have any Seattle guidebooks laying around, send 'em my way!

Girl Scout Cookie Time!

2010-01-18T17:34:00.002-07:00

Kydee is selling girl scout cookies again, so if you're in need of some really good cookies, call or email me! She is trying to sell enough to go to a week-long horse camp. Last year she sold about 390 boxes and went to a Girl Scout camp in McCall ID. The Girl Scouts are opening a camp closer to us where the girls learn how to ride horses, and she's very excited for that this year. I know that she's a hard worker and will reach her goal. The price this year is $3.75/box including tax. Only $1 of that is for the actual product cost, $.23 is sales tax, and the rest goes to the girl scouts divided among the council, the troop and the girl. She's been hitting the pavement today and sold 43 boxes so far. Way to go!

Thanksgiving in Seattle

2009-12-07T11:59:00.002-07:00

We went to Ariane's house in Spanaway, WA for Thanksgiving this year. The kids had a whole week off school and Dale and I got the time off work. We had fun seeing Ariane, Matt, Jonas, and Hazel. Friday we all headed to Seattle to go to the Pacific Science Center, the Children's Museum, and check out the city.

This is the view from our hotel room; isn't it beautiful?! We got a great deal at the Red Lion and it was right downtown.
Here's the famous 'gum wall' at the Pike Place fish market. The entire wall behind us is covered in gum. People come by and add to it, sculpt with it, and write messages in it. (GROSS!)

We found this weird-looking broccoli at Pike Place. I just had to take a picture.

The first day we were in Seattle, it was a beautiful, clear day; unfortunately, the next day was cold and cloudy.

We had fun walking around the city, riding the bus and the monorail (that was actually the kids' favorite part), going to Pacific Science Center and the Children's Museum, and looking around at Olympic Park. We all decided that we didn't have enough time (or good enough weather) in Seattle, so we're going to have to go back in the summer. Thanks Ariane and Matt for letting us stay with you and for showing us around the town. We miss you all and wish we lived closer!

Halloween

2009-12-07T10:47:00.002-07:00

I'm finally getting around to posting about Halloween. Elias was so cute as a skeleton, Elora was a mermaid with pink sparkly hair (no surprise!), Kydee stuck with her creative streak and went as a book worm, and Dalan was Indiana Jones (and was quite upset that most people thought he was a cowboy; his favorite video game is Lego Indiana Jones). The kids had lots of fun walking around our neighborhood; there was even a haunted backyard. They got over 10 lbs (!!) of candy, so they're still working on eating it (I only let them have two pieces/day). We had a Halloween party at our house the night before and it was so much fun that we might make it a tradition. Thanks to everybody who came!

A little rant about the forgotten holiday...THANKSGIVING!!!

2009-11-04T11:03:00.003-07:00

I love Thanksgiving--the food, the family, the relatively stress-free day of sitting around eating and talking, and most of all, taking time to think about all that I have to be thankful for.
What I hate about Thanksgiving is that the rest of the world seems to have forgotten it. Halloween and Christmas have completely eclipsed my favorite holiday! (Gasp, did she just say that she had a favorite holiday other than Christmas?! Isn't that against the law or something?!)

I challenge all you readers to take a stand and actually CELEBRATE Thanksgiving this year. I'm not talking about gorging yourselves in a few weeks (that's fine to do, btw); I mean really celebrate being grateful for everything that you and I have.

In our family, every day in November at dinner, we each say something that we're thankful for (no repeats allowed) and we write it on a construction-paper leaf. The leaves are then taped onto our "Thankfulness Tree" (a piece of posterboard with a bare tree drawn on it). On Thanksgiving Day, we read all the leaves. I think it's a great way to really think of all our blessings--having the rule of no repeats makes for creative answers, and I think it helps the kids be happier with what they have, instead of focused on the interminable lists that so many write out for Santa. They also seem to say 'thank you' more often during this time of year and spend time thinking about how to help those in need.

If anyone else has any ideas on great Thanksgiving traditions, or how to help our families be more thankful, please share!

Our new bathroom

2009-10-14T17:18:00.003-06:00

A long time ago I mentioned that we were adding a bathroom in the basement and someday I would post some pictures. Well, you lucky readers, someday has finally arrived!!!

Here's my dad taking down the wall under the stairs that would become the doorway. Yay for my dad! He's the hero of this project. He removed the wall, put up a wall, built the shower stall and did the plumbing and electrical work. Thanks, dad!
Oh, we also have a really great friend, Ben, who helped A TON with the taping and texturing of the sheetrock. Thanks, Ben!

This is the before picture of the bathroom area.

And this is the after picture. I think it looks wonderful! I bought some dark pink accessories to go in there and it looks awesome. I'm going to hang black and white pictures in there someday, but for now, we're just glad to have a bathroom downstairs.

Irish Family Reunion

2009-08-25T10:59:00.002-06:00

These are pictures of our Irish family reunion. (My mom's brothers and sisters.) We had lots of fun swimming in the Virgin River, down by Zion's National Park.

Micah's Wedding

2009-08-25T10:47:00.003-06:00

Well, my internet connection is finally working, so I'm going to catch up on blogging. (I really should be working on finishing the basement bathroom, but oh well!)

Micah, my brother, got married in June in Moab. Here's some pics.

Here's Micah and Kaylee after the wedding. It's a pretty dang good picture, if I do say so myself.

Here's all my parents grandkids. They're going to have two more by springtime.

(No, we're not having one of them.)

Kaylee's brothers found a huge toad and showed it to Kaylee. It looks like she really appreciated that, huh?!

"You may kiss the bride!"

Here they are at the start of the ceremony.

Congratulations, Micah. I love you and I'm so glad that you found such a good woman to be your wife and mother of your children. My kids are so excited to have Kaydance as a cousin and look forward to the next one!

Moab

2009-07-20T12:09:00.005-06:00

The day after Micah's wedding, we decided to go to one of our favorite places near Moab--Honeycomb Rock (or as my family likes to call it, Fraggle Rock). It's a giant rock (it's actually several rocks) with lots of caves in it. When we were kids, we imagined that it was Fraggle Rock because of the caves and the sparkly rocks.

There was a stream of sunlight coming in from a crack in the top of this cave and it looked really cool.
The kids were trying to bury the light. They thought it was coming up from the ground. It was really funny to watch.
Here we are at the top the Indian ladder (Another fun place my family likes to go at Moab). The crack in the rock on the right side of this picture is where the ladder is located. Dale, my cousin Todd, and I are on the top.
Here's me and Tasha climbing down the ladder.

Fourth of July

2009-07-20T11:40:00.003-06:00

We went river rafting on the 4th with some friends. We all had lots of fun except Elias, who cried and whined the whole time.

Here's everyone that went...Dalan is behind Elora's head; other than that, I think it turned out pretty good for just holding it in front of me.

It turned out that the reason Elias was crying the whole time wasn't because he was scared of the water like we thought, but because he had a broken leg. :(

We had to hike down a really steep hill to get down to the river. Dale was holding Elias, slipped, and fell on Elias' leg. He checked Elias, didn't see any scrapes or bruises, so he thought he was alright. OOPS! He's got a cast now and walks all over the place (he got tired of crawling everywhere after about a week). Except for nighttime when he can't find a comfortable position to sleep, he acts just like any other 21-month-old.

Here's a picture of Elias with his blue cast, which came off (long story). He had to get another one. Elora picked out a glow-in-the-dark cast for him, so the kids think that's pretty cool.

Barbee Reunion

2009-07-16T11:56:00.003-06:00

We hosted the Carl and Jenetta Barbee family reunion this year and had a ton-o-fun! I wasn't sure how things would go with that many people, but it went really well. We went geocaching, tie-dyed shirts, had a photo scavenger hunt (pics below), and a treasure hunt throughout Idaho Falls. We were glad to be able to visit with everyone and have so much fun together. We were sad that Charles' family and Jason & Jeannie couldn't make it.

Here's some pictures from the photo scavenger hunt.

Summer update

2009-07-16T11:02:00.002-06:00

I just realized how long ago my last post was, so here's a few picture updates of early summer.

One day, Elias found one of the kids' bike helmets, put in on, went outside and rode his bike. He was so cute, so I just had to take a picture. The funny thing was that he never keeps hats/helmets on for more than 10 seconds and he'd never rode a bike before. He rode his bike with the helmet on for about 45 minutes.
Kydee was in a contest at school to see who could read for the most minutes in two months. She read over 4,000 minutes and won the contest, so she got to ride to school in a fire truck. They took her for a 30 minute ride around town first; she got to turn on the siren and she loved it, of course! (Dalan won the prize for reading the most in kindergarten, so he got a $5 gift card to Barnes & Noble; too bad that's not enough to actually buy a book there!)

Elora loves to help me in the kitchen and she always pretends that she's the chef and I'm the slave that has to help her. (I have no clue where she got that idea!) Here's a picture of her making bread.

We helped my parents with their cotton candy booth in Moab, UT and while there, Kydee and Dalan got to ride this trampoline-bungee thingy. They had a lot of fun.

Remodeling

2009-05-21T10:56:00.002-06:00

Well, you know me...it's been too long since I've had a project, so I decided to do three at once! (Actually, it's more like 5, now that I think about it.)

I asked my dad to help us finish the bathroom in the basement when he was here for Kydee's baptism (it had the drains in the floor, that's it). He got the walls up, did all the plumbing, and most of the sheetrock. We have to finish the mudding/taping, paint, and tile the shower.
I decided that I wanted to tile my bathroom floor while I was doing the shower surround downstairs. I also decided that I needed to paint and refinish the cabinets in my bathroom before I tiled. (I've got the painting and refinishing done, still need to do the tile.)
I figured while I was refinishing the bathroom cabinets, why not do the kitchen ones, too? Oh, and I might as well add a microhood. (I actually finished all that and I'm pretty darn proud of myself for wiring an outlet and cutting down some cabinets so the microwave would fit!) (I have more ideas for the kitchen, but they require ripping out the hardwood floor, moving around a few cabinets, laying new flooring, adding more cabinets, taking out a door, adding a window, tearing down a wall, etc...I think I'll wait on that.)
I'm in the process of redoing my storage room, since the bathroom addition changed the size and shape of it...I've gotten things organized, but I would like to build more shelves sometime.
After losing some storage space downstairs, I decided I needed more in the garage, which would mean rearranging everything out there to build the shelving unit I want. I have the lumber for that and started to move things. That's as far as we've got on that one.
Oh, yeah! One more...While shopping for trim to go around the door in the new bathroom, I found some crown molding for my bedroom at a screaming deal (I paid $12 for all of it at the Habitat for Humanity Restore!--it's a construction thrift store where they have new and used construction items that have been donated). I do not know how to do crown molding; I've never even done trim, but I am hoping I can figure it out! (So far, I just have the molding for this one; in fact, I don't even know if I have enough, as I haven't even measured the room yet!--I just got all the matching crown molding that they had. I hope it's enough; if not, I hope that Home Depot or Lowes has the same kind.)

Well, I think that's it for my projects...at least for now. I still have some in mind (expanding my bathroom and adding a window, putting in new windows because ours are like trailerhouse ones; pouring a walkway and patio in the backyard, adding a new laundry/craft room upstairs in the attic; yes, that would require ripping part of the roof off and building a new one...), but I haven't actually started those yet. I'm only counting ones that are in process.

OH...I remembered one more thing. My wonderful friends the Young's came and tilled up a little spot of earth (yes, that's from the Secret Garden) for our garden, so I've got to plant something. I better wait a week...wouldn't want it to freeze! (Remember last spring; it snowed in June!)

So, after that list, you're probably all wondering, "If she has that much to do, why is she writing such a long blog?" Well, I'm wondering the same thing, so I better go do something! (By the way, I'm still in my robe and it's almost...11:30!? Crap! I've got to take Dalan to school in 10 minutes and then I'm supposed to volunteer at the school for and hour and a half! I better get going! When am I ever going to get this list done?!

Kydee's baptism

2009-05-21T10:50:00.003-06:00

Well, I'm finally posting about Kydee's baptism. She has chosen to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and we're so proud of her. We know that she wants to follow Jesus and make great things of her life and this is just one of the many steps she will take. Thanks to all of you who came. We were glad you could share this important moment in our lives.

Update on me and my life...

2009-04-17T17:31:00.002-06:00

Well, I really don't have anything interesting to say. Life is pretty much the 'same ol, same ol' but that's good because theres SO many things about life that's great!
I've been learning about the settings on my camera and I'm going to try shooting most of my pictures (gulp!) on manual mode. I'm very nervous, so wish me luck. I still don't really understand apertures, ISO, light meters, zooming, and all that, but I'm experimenting with all of them and trying to figure out the best combos for different effects/situations. I read a book from the library that was over my head a lot of the time, but it really opened my eyes to the possibilities of photography. So, check back with me in a couple of months....I should be a pro by then, right?!
Um...what else? Kydee is still our little reader; in the past two weeks alone she's read The Little Princess, The Secret Garden, another one that I can't remember, and she started Eragon two days ago. Dalan also loves to read, but Calvin & Hobbes, The Adventures of Captain Underpants, and Junie B. Jones are more to his liking. He gets to go to 1st grade for math and he likes that quite a bit, but he's still getting used to having homework almost every night. Elora is still our girly-girl; she wears dresses or skirts almost every day and loves to play Barbie's and babydolls. Elias is growing so fast; he has definitely hit 18 months and throws temper tantrums to prove it. He also has discovered how to climb (and has the owies to prove it!) and he loves to make messes by getting into anything and everything. Dale passed one of four portions of his CPA exam, so the good news is he passed one! The bad news is he has to study more to pass the other three that he failed. Luckily, he only failed by a little bit, so he doesn't have too much farther to go, compared to the past 6 months when he studied 3 hours a day. Well, hope everything is wonderful for all of you out in cyberspace! Bye for now...

Amos' wedding

2009-04-02T22:37:00.003-06:00

Well, I'm a little late blogging about this, but oh well. Amos, my brother, got married last month to a lovely girl named Tasha. Here's some pictures of their reception.

Here's Ariane's cute little girl, Hazel.

Kydee and Grandpa dancing.

Elora and her soon to be cousin, Kaydence, had a lot of fun dancing together. (Micah is engaged to Kaylee, Kaydence's mom. They're going to get married in June.)

A day in the life of a Barbee...

2009-03-17T15:34:00.004-06:00

Here's pictures of some fun moments from the past few weeks at our house.

Kydee's best funny face

The kids found a dead lady bug and insisted on having a memorial service, complete with the following plaque. (For those who can't read the small writing, it says, "In memory of Princess Ladybug. Died in 2009 when she was two. 2007-2009") How they decided how old the lady bug was, I'm not sure. I thought it was so cute that I had to take a picture. They did it all by themselves; in fact, I didn't know about it until after the 'service' when I saw this in Kydee's room.

Here's the kids watching a movie with popcorn.

My cute little punk rocker! (It's kind of hard to see, but he has a faux-hawk.)

The girls dressed up Dalan and Elias like little girls.

Elias was less than thrilled, but Dalan didn't seem to mind!

Here's what Elora looks like every time she bends over.

I can't find a pair of pants that fit her waist.

Elora did my hair for me one day. Isn't it lovely?

Elora wanted to take pictures of us making silly faces.

I hope everyone who sees this first, realizes we're not all crazy, and second, remembers to have fun with life and enjoy the silly little moments!

Brag about my little Brownie...

2009-03-16T14:23:00.002-06:00

I just had to add a little blurb to brag about my oldest daughter, Kydee. She is a Brownie Girl Scout and wants to go to camp this year. It costs $330 for a five night camp. She's been selling her toys and books, saving her allowance, and selling Girl Scout cookies like crazy so she can pay for it. So far, the cookie count is 318 boxes, plus whatever her share of the booth sales is and she's saved up $40 of her own money. Way to go, Kydee-girl!

Facebook Tag--I know, I'm taking the easy way doing two-for-one, but oh well!

2009-02-02T17:02:00.002-07:00

well, I got tagged by Tamra on Facebook and I figured it would work for my blog too, so here we go!

25 Random Things About Me
1. I get really, really annoyed with bad drivers! Pay attention people!
2. I love to play games with friends and would do it every weekend if I could find any friends that would actually want to come over that often.
3. I am so SICK of the cold
4. I like to stay up late--if I'm in bed before 11:30, I lay in bed thinking that I must be forgetting to do something because I got to bed so early.
5. I've been really frustrated with my post-nursing breasts lately--can anyone else relate?
6. I like to eat junk food way too much; I can't have it in the house, or I pig out.
7. I am a total coupon/clearance freak!
8. I HATE shopping for swimsuits.
9. I would love to travel the world someday.
10. I am so glad that I have the kids that I do--they're wonderful and I love to watch them grow up!
11. I love my husband SO much, even though he annoys me SO often!
12. I don't have cable (just rabbit ears with a digital converter box) and I rarely watch any TV, but I really don't mind.
13. Having said that, I do enjoy mystery shows, especially funny ones, like 'Monk.' (We buy the seasons on DVD, watch them, and then sell them on ebay)
14. Speaking of ebay, I made $300 profit on ebay in December--it was awesome!
15. I LOVE Collective Soul; I have loved them for about 14 years now--wow, has it been that long?!
16. I always forget how old I am.
17. I love to dance, especially to 80's music and swing/big band.
18. I think I'm addicted to shopping.
19. If I think about it, I get scared of the dark.
20. I think I'm a really organized person until I look around my piled up house!
21. I'm glad to be good friends with my sister; there were quite a few years that I didn't ever think that was going to happen.
22. I wish I lived somewhere warmer, like San Diego.
23. I think feet are DISGUSTING (unless someone is under 2; then their feet are cute and I can actually touch them; older than that? Forget it!)
24. I know that Jesus loves me!
25. I wish I had more friends (in real life, not facebook!).

Christmas

2009-01-19T11:04:00.004-07:00

For Christmas this year, we had "Christmas morning" on the morning of Christmas Eve at our house in Idaho with all but the Santa presents and stockings, and then we headed down to Cedar City to surprise my parents for Christmas. They were expecting us a day later, so when we rang the doorbell at 9pm Christmas Eve, they weren't expecting us! We all thought is was fun to surprise them like that. We had Christmas morning and dinner at my parents and a couple of days after Christmas, we went down to Vegas to visit Dale's family. It was good to see everyone; we even decided to have a family reunion at our house this summer! I brought my camera on the trip, but somehow didn't manage to take a single picture, so all I have are pictures of the kids opening their presents at our house.

Dalan's and Elora's birthdays

2009-01-19T10:46:00.004-07:00

Dalan turned 6 in December. I'm finally getting around to updating the blog, so I'm playing catch-up. Here's Dalan with his car and number 6 cake.

Dalan loved the transformer shirt and skateboard that Grandma Linda gave him.

Elora also had a birthday in December; she turned 4. I wanted to make a princess cake for her. I asked Dale to make the frosting (I left a recipe for him and everything) while I went to the store. When I got home, this is the color he had made. Brown! I tried to explain to him that I needed white (which is the recipe I gave him) so I could make a pink and white dress, but he said he liked chocolate better, so what's the big deal?!
So, Elora ended up with princess with a dark brown dress with pink accents. Oh, well!

She wanted to be 'fancy' for her birthday party, so she wore this dress (and two others--she couldn't decide which she liked best, so she changed periodically; kinda like the announcers on the Academy Awards).

Christmas in the Nighttime Sky

2008-12-12T13:57:00.005-07:00

At the beginning of December, Pocatello has a bonfire, free chili, and fireworks at the county fairgrounds, called "Christmas in the Nighttime Sky." We went with some friends this year and it was really fun. So, here's some pictures of the fireworks, my kids watching them, and the bonfire. Hope everyone is almost ready for Christmas--it's only 13 days away!

Hooray for Thanksgiving!

2008-11-20T14:21:00.002-07:00

I LOVE THANKSGIVING! I've recently decided that it's my favorite holiday. I just love thinking about all the blessings we have and I like that it's a pretty low-stress holiday (compared to Christmas), and it involves lots of food, naps, games, and family.
A couple of weeks ago, I was counting the days until Thanksgiving with the kids when Elora asked what Thanksgiving was. I told her it was a day that we think of all the things that Heavenly Father has given us and everything that we're thankful for. She looked at me with a funny look on her face and said, "We do that every day, Mom!" (Like, "That's silly that we have to have a holiday for something we should do every day!") It was so profoundly cute and sweet! I am so thankful for my children and for the times when they say things like that!

Halloween

2008-11-08T13:40:00.004-07:00

Elias was Winnie the Pooh.

Elora was a princess.

(I made the dress. It took me forever. My machine kept messing up. I was ready to give up and just have her wear dress-up clothes, but I finally figured out what was wrong and finished the dress half an hour before we went trick-or-treating.)

Dalan was Luke Skywalker. Well, he switched between Luke and Anakin, but whatever. I made his outfit, too, but you can't see it very well in this picture.

Kydee's costume was the biggest hit of the school and Halloween party. She was originally going to be a princess with a dress just like Elora's, but you know about the troubles with my sewing machine. The night before Halloween I gave up on making something and decided I needed to throw something together that did not require sewing. I looked at the local thrift store, and although I didn't find a costume, I saw this tablecloth. I remembered seeing a costume like this in a magazine, so I decided we could do it.

(She's an ant at a picnic, by the way!)

We went to a straw maze a couple of weeks before Halloween with some friends of ours and had lots of fun getting lost. It was so cold, but we brought some hot chocolate and dressed warm. It was in the 30's that day, but luckily Halloween was really warm. We didn't even need to wear coats, just warm clothes, even at 9pm. It was so great!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween! We're looking forward to Thanksgiving!

Birthdays

2008-10-29T15:46:00.003-06:00

Here's some pics of recent birthdays in our family that I'm finally getting around to posting. My birthday is Sept. 28, Dale's and Elias' birthday is Oct. 2.

We always let the kids have their own star-shaped cake on their first birthdays. Elias wasn't too sure about what to do at first. Then he had lots of fun crumbling up the cake and throwing it on the floor. He ended up eating only about two bites, but he did really well at making a mess.

Kydee's play

2008-10-29T15:35:00.003-06:00

The Missoula Children's Theatre came to Idaho Falls a couple of months ago. They have kids from the area try out to be in the play on a Monday, practice all week, and do the play on Saturday. Kydee wanted to try out so bad, so we let her.

She got a part as a dust bunny. Isn't she so cute?!

She's the oldest kid in our family, so I always think of her as being more grown up than she really is. It was fun to see her with all the other kids in the play. She was one of the youngest cast members. It reminded me how little she is. (She's on the bottom row, 3rd from right.)

She had a lot of fun and is looking forward to trying out next year. Look out Hollywood!

Camping at Mesa Falls

2008-10-11T12:00:00.005-06:00

We went camping with some friends at Mesa Falls. It was really pretty. We drove over to Big Springs (one of the biggest freshwater springs in North America--it puts out 120 million gallons a day!) The fish there are gigantic, but you can't go fishing or wading. The camping trip was so fun and the water was so pretty that we took my parents and brother there last week.

Lower Mesa Falls (isn't this such a pretty picture?! I took it.)

Upper Mesa Falls (yes, I took this one too and I think it's pretty dang good)

Playing in the water at Big Springs with Grandpa

Elora dancing around the fire

Elias helping unload the camping gear

Dalan found plenty of sticks to play with

Kydee on top of Sawtelle Peak

Grandma, Uncle Eli and the kids at upper mesa falls

Family Fair

2008-10-09T15:31:00.005-06:00

On Labor Day, we were going to go to the Eastern Idaho State Fair, but it was very cold and rainy, so on the spur of the moment, I decided we could do a family fair instead. I gave everyone an hour to make up to two things to submit to the fair and then we'd all meet to judge the entries. Kydee drew a picture and submitted a coin collection, Elora made cookies and drew a picture, and Dalan did some tricks on the trampoline and drew a picture. I picked some flowers from our garden and arranged them, and Dale had a nap. (He got the Party Pooper Award.) Here's pictures of our awards.

Then we had a watermelon eating contest. Kydee and Dalan had two minutes to see how much they could eat. Dalan won.

More Disneyland and beach pictures

2008-09-01T12:44:00.004-06:00

I was going to post more about the beach and Disneyland and never did, so here's some pictures. If I had more time, I'd write about our trip, but I really need to go spend time with my family and get away from the computer.

Here's Dalan pulling the sword from the stone.

Kydee with Cinderella.

Amos, Micah, Eli, Mom, Dalan, Samuel, Elora, Dad, Kydee, Elias, Dale at the beach.

Elora got to go on stage and help with a show.

Here's Samuel, Elora, Dalan, Mom, Kydee, and Ariane riding Heimlich's Train. (It's pretty cool--you drive by bits of food that Heimlich eats and you can smell each one; animal crackers, watermelon, um...I can't remember what else.

I've tried to post this three times and my internet connection keeps quitting, so I better publish it now while I've got the chance. Someday I'll blog about Disneyland with four kids, and about our camping trip that we took a couple of weeks ago.

Wedding pictures

2008-09-01T12:25:00.002-06:00

Here's some of Dale's family the day before the wedding:

Jason, Charles' wife Stacey, his mom holding Dawn's baby Rachel, half of Shelly's head
Dale's dad
Jason looking at Jeannie as she is coming down the aisle.And that's when my batteries died, so I didn't get a picture of Jeannie or the actual ceremony. Whoops!

Latest project

2008-08-29T14:53:00.004-06:00

We have a balcony above our living room that you can look from the hallway down to the living room. Unfortunately, it was obviously not built to code, because our children can fit their heads through and Elias' whole body could fit through if he turned sideways. Since we didn't want any fatalities and each one of our kids got their heads stuck at least once, we decided to fix the problem. I wasn't sure what to do at first. I wondered about replacing the whole thing, but decided that would be too expensive. My dad suggested putting chicken wire up over the whole thing. (Yes, you read that right--chicken wire!) I looked at Home Depot and Lowes for ballusters, but they were $4-5 each and we needed 22, so that would have been too expensive, also. Finally, I decided I could just use dowels (much more manageable at $1.75 each). I drilled holes in the bottom and then drilled holes in the upper railing about twice as deep as needed. That way I could put the dowel up into the upper hole, then drop it down into the lower hole. I glued them in and then stained them. (Am I good or what?! The stain matches perfect and I was just guessing and hoping for the best!) Anyway, I think it looks pretty dang good and it's nice that I don't have to worry about my babies falling through the railing!

Elias with the railing before. Another picture of Elias, before.

Here's after the dowels were put in, but not stained.

I'll post another picture of the final product soon. I have to charge my batteries for my camera.

Ok...I got the picture. So here's the finished product.

Please excuse the blurry nature of the above photo. Dale took it and he never takes the pictures, so he needs some practice. :)

Jason's wedding

2008-08-29T14:21:00.001-06:00

Dale's brother, Jason, got married in Carson City last weekend to a great girl named Jeannie. She and Jason make a great couple and we hope all the best to them. Dale and I decided at the last minute to fly out to Carson City and leave the three oldest kids with my parents. It was the first time since we've been married that we've flown together, so that was fun. Dale loves to look out the window--I thought it was fun to watch how excited he got when we took off and landed. It was good to see all of Dale's family at the wedding. I was going to take pictures, but the batteries on my camera died and I forgot my charger, so I only got a few. (I will be posting those shortly). Um...nothing else too exciting happening around here.

Family Scripture Study

2008-08-14T11:14:00.004-06:00

Here's some pictures of a typical family scripture study. We read scriptures together every night before family prayer and bedtime. It was kind of hard to get into the habit, but now that it's part of the bedtime routine, our kids don't let us forget it. Sometimes it feels like the kids don't pay attention, or that they fight over who crossed who's line on the couch, but then they say things like "Why do the Nephites keep going back and forth; good then bad, then good, then bad? Why don't they just stay good?" or "Lehi and Nephi were really powerful missionaries, huh?" That's when it's all worth it!

Dale usually reads while the rest of us listen.

Here's Kydee, Elora, and Dalan sitting next to me on the couch, listening so well.

Elias nursing while we read. (Hope this doesn't offend anyone!)

Elias crying because I made him stop nursing so I could get a picture. (Isn't he so cute?!)

Anyway, for everyone struggling with family scripture and prayer, just keep at it, no matter what happens, even if it's just a few verses. The kids will get better at sitting still and paying attention and they really do learn, even when it feels like they have no idea what is going on. It really makes our home have less fighting and gets the kids in the habit of reading their scriptures and making them part of their lives.

Trip to Moab

2008-08-14T11:03:00.003-06:00

Our trip to Moab was fun. My cousin got married on Friday. She looked very beautiful and we were all so glad that she and Scott have made that commitment.
Saturday and Sunday were spent on the La Sal mountains above Moab for my mom's 50th birthday party. We surprised her by contacting friends from throughout her life and having them write memories about her. We were able to get ones clear from 2nd grade until now, so that was pretty fun to hear those stories and see my mom's reaction to them. Her brothers and sisters sang a song about her to the tune of "The Brady Bunch" theme song. Then my siblings and I sang a song about her to the tune of "Johnny Verbeck." Maybe I'll post the words when I find the notebook we wrote it in.
Monday we rode a raft down the Colorado River. It was my first time on the river. How, you might ask, did I never go down the river growing up in Fruita, Colorado and visiting Moab every summer? I just had the luck of being out of town or pregnant every time our church youth group or my family went rafting. (I wasn't pregnant for the youth group trips, just so you know!) Anyway, it was a lot of fun goofing around with my family and splashing each other. I wish I would have been braver and jumped off a cliff into the river, but there's always next time.
BTW--I forgot my camera, so I don't have any pictures for this post, but I will try to get some from my family and add them.

I'm baaack!

2008-08-04T10:04:00.003-06:00

Well, our internet has been messed up for about a month, but we finally got that problem taken care of, so I am back and have comitted to writing at least once a week (we'll see how that goes).

So, I guess to start out, I'll write about what's on my mind, which just happens to be my wonderful husband, Dale. We celebrated our 8th anniversary on July 15th. I can't believe how long it's been already! The time really does seem to have just flown by. I love Dale for the following reasons, plus so many more: Dale works so hard to take care of us, we have a good time together, he watches romantic movies with me even though he hates them (I watch action flicks with him, so I guess that means we sacrifice for each other), and he tries really hard to be a good dad. Dale, I Love You!!

Ok, enough with the mushy stuff that no one really cares about and on to our trips this summer (more stuff that no one really cares about, yay!) Well, let's see....this summer we've traveled a ton and we still have three more trips coming up. So, for those of you who were worried ab0ut the economy slouching due to high gas prices and less people traveling, have no fear! The Barbee family is determined to single-handedly bring us out of the slump through our summer trips. We've gone to Cedar City twice (visiting family), California (Disneyland), Seattle (visiting my sister), Grand Junction (my 10-yr class reunion), Price (cousin's funeral), Moab (family), Las Vegas (more family), Declo, ID (family reunion), um....I don't think anywhere else. The kids and I are going to Moab tomorrow for my mom's 50th birthday party, cousin's wedding, and to see family. We're all going to Carson City, NV towards the end of August for Dale's brother's wedding, and the first week in September we're going camping with some friends somewhere in the middle of Idaho. After all that, I don't think we'll be in a traveling mood for some time.

Random Summer Trip Photos

Man! Don't I have the cutest kids!? Have a great day everyone!

Disneyland

2008-07-29T13:44:00.005-06:00

Boys at the beach. (Dale and my 4 brothers--one's in front of another one, so you can only see three.)

All of us with 'The Mouse' himself.

Grandma and cousin Jonas. (Ariane's in the background.)
Isn't this the coolest Disney hat ever?! Eli bought it a few years ago when he went to Disneyland with the high school and everyone just loves it! And Elora looks so cute, as always!
There we are on the jungle cruise. (Well, you can only see Dalan, Dale, Ariane, Elias, Jonas and my dad, but we were all there.)

We've been lucky enough to have been to Disneyland three times with our kids. This most recent time was with my entire family (excepting my bro-in-law, Matt, who's in Iraq). We had lots of fun. We spent a day at Disneyland, a day at California Adventure, and a day at the beach. Dale, I, and our kids stayed the night at our good friends, the Bigelow's, while my parents drove home through the night. We had a good time visiting with them, as usual, and hope to see them again sometime before another two years go by. (Thanks, guys! You're great hosts and it was fun to see you.)

Yes, I'm still alive...

2008-07-14T16:46:00.002-06:00

I keep thinking I'm going to update my blog and then get busy doing other stuff, so I don't. So, all of you who are just dying to hear from me again (ha, ha), just hang on a little longer. When I do finally get around to posting again, I'll have plenty. We've gone to Disneyland, a funeral, and a 10 year class reunion, so lots of junk to write and plenty of pics to add. Right now, my children are calling (literally).

I'm IT again

2008-05-19T10:17:00.002-06:00

TAG I'M IT!
3 Joys
1. My kids; I love watching them do things. It's fun to see them grow and just be kids.
2. Learning; I really like to learn about lots of different things. I remember when I was in middle school saying that I'd like to take every class that a college offered and I still think that's a pretty good idea, excepting a few (like accounting; I've taken a few of those and that was enough--yuck).
3. Playing games with friends; I really like having people over. There's just something about a house full of people that I like.

3 Fears
1. "Bad guys" (murderers, robbers, etc) coming into my room at night. I've talked about this before, but for those of you who didn't read about it last time; I make Dale sleep on the side of the bed closest to the door and I have to be able to see the door to my room from where I sleep. (Not that either of those will actually make a difference if someone actually does come in to kill me, but oh well.)
2. Scary movies; I just can't handle them. I'm not scared of the dark or of being alone unless I've watched a scary movie recently. Then, I really freak myself out. I've grounded myself from them, so I haven't been scared for a long time.
3. Failing to teach my kids what they need to know to be successful. I really worry about that a lot and don't really know what to do about it, except the best I can and just keep going day after day.

3 Goals
1. Stop yelling at my kids. I want my house to be a yell-free zone; I think that even if you're mad at someone, you can talk to them in a rational way. (At least, I think that when I'm calm and rational; I seem to forget that when I get angry.) I'm getting better, but it seems like an impossible goal sometimes.
2. Get out of debt; we're still paying on school, plus we're still recovering from moving up here and not selling our house in Cedar for so long. Hopefully by January 2009 we'll be totally debt-free except our mortgage here in IF.
3. Clean my house little by little every day. That way I can keep it to a manageable mess.

3 Obsessions
1. British mystery TV shows; you name it, I've either seen it or will watch it. I've seen every season of Midsommer Murders, Prime Suspect, and Touching Evil. I'm working on Foyle's War, RoseMary and Thyme, and Campion. I've watched a ton of Poirot with David Suchet, Inspector Lynley, Miss Marple, Hetty Wainthrop, and Inspector Frost. I've seen a few Inspector Morse (boring), and Jeeves & Wooster. I've just about exhausted the library's collection, so when they're all gone, I don't know what I'll watch.
2. Collective Soul; as you all know, I think it's the most awsome band ever! Enough said.
3. I don't know....OH, buying things for a really good deal. I love thrift store shopping and yard saling because I can find good stuff for so cheap.

3 Random/Surprising Facts about myself
1. I hate loading the dishwasher; I think it's disgusting to touch dirty plates. I don't mind unloading, but luckily Dale usually does both of those jobs, so I don't have to worry about either.
2. I'm the only one in my family (the one I was born to, not the one I created) that hasn't been to all 50 states. I'm missing Alaska and Hawaii.
3. Once I start a book, I have to finish it and I usually read a book in two days or less. (I like to read British murder mysteries, too.)

I tag Ariane (you're the only one that ever does them!)

Misc. pics

2008-04-11T14:02:00.002-06:00

Here's a picture of the snow we got a few days ago. It's melted now, and I hear that it's supposed to get up to 63 Sunday or Monday and I'm so happy at the prospect of warmer weather!

This is Dalan's burned finger. Can you believe a firescreen could burn someone that bad?! I couldn't!

Here's the girls in their Easter dresses. No, I didn't make them; I slacked off this year and bought them (but they were on sale for a really good price-only $13 each!). I was going to make their dresses, but just didn't. Maybe I'll make them some cute summer things. (Yeah, just keep dreaming, Sonnet!)

Adventures and Mishaps at Ariane's

2008-04-10T12:41:00.006-06:00

After a long, very long, car ride, we arrived at Ariane and Matt's house. We left at 8:30 am Monday morning and arrived at 1:15 in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. We even gained an hour on the way because of the time change, so that makes it a 17.5 hour trip! I don't know if I've ever been nearer insanity then I was at that point and that's saying a lot!
We spent all week at my sister's house and left Sunday morning. The ride home was a lot shorter and the kids were much better behaved, thank goodness! We left about 6:45am and got home about 11:15pm, so it was only 15.5 hours on the way home. We only stopped for gas and food (I let the kids eat in the car while I fed Elias). Even though the ride back was much more bearable, I still don't know if I'll do that trip alone again.
While visiting Ariane, we went to IKEA (our favorite store ever), visited almost all the thrift stores within a 20 mile radius (we love thrift stores, too!), and had an adventure in Seattle. We got to Seattle later than we were planning because we went there after IKEA. By the time we found a parking place and unloaded all 5 kids and walked to Pike Place Fish Market, it was closed! We heard that the library is cool, so we loaded the kids up again and drove around for a while, trying to find it. Jonas (my 17-month-old nephew) threw up when we were almost there, and then threw up again once we got there. We cleaned up the puke in the parking garage at the library, but by the time everything was cleaned up and clothes were changed, the library had just closed. My kids were about to wet their pants, but they wouldn't even unlock the bathroom to let them use it, even though we made it into the building before they locked the library. To top it off, we had to pay for parking! Oh, yeah! After all the puking, getting lost, and arriving too late, we forgot to drive by the Space Needle, so my kids didn't even get to see it. We didn't even realize we forgot it until we were almost to Ariane's house.
After the trip to Seattle, we decided we needed a nice relaxing day at home, so I convinced Ariane that we should paint Jonas' room. (What was I thinking? I don't know--grumpy kids+ puking child + nursing baby + painting = a ton o fun, right?!) Anyway, Ariane and I painted Jonas' room with three colors. We did a solid all around the bottom half of the room and stripes with two different colors on the top. It looks pretty cute. She's going to hang a wall paper border inbetween the two. It wasn't that hard because Jonas slept most of the day (when he wasn't recycling his lunch) and my older kids played outside in the rain and watched movies. Elias played in the crib in the middle of the room while we painted. I had hoped to paint her kitchen, too, but we didn't get that far! Me and my big ideas!
Overall, I was glad that I made the trip, chaotic and long as it was. I was really happy to get to see Matt before he got deployed (love ya, Matt!) and it was fun to visit my sister. I look forward to seeing her again at Disneyland and my kids are excited to see their cousin again.

Cool architecture in Spokane

2008-04-10T12:25:00.003-06:00

I love looking at old buildings and I took some photos of my faves on our trip. Some were a little difficult because I was the only one in the car that knew how to use the camera and I was driving, but it worked.

Note: These two pictures (above and below) are of a building that were in one of my dreams a few years ago. It was SO weird to be driving along and see this building a couple of blocks away. I instantly recognized it and had to drive over and take a picture. I remembered the dream so well because I thought the building was so cool and I remembered feeling so sad when I woke up because of the dream. In my dream, it was on a steeper hill and a bigger city, but otherwise, it's the same building. I was looking around this big city (in my dream) for a little girl with black hair. I found her in this building, which was a Catholic School in my dream. It's really the County Courthouse. Any interpretations or explanations anyone? I had never been to Spokane before and I had the dream when Kydee was very little, probably younger than 2. Freaky, huh?!

This picture (above) was taken while driving and very difficult to get.

This was taken while driving, too, but I was stopped at a red light, so it wasn't too hard.

Riverfront Park in Spokane

2008-04-10T12:08:00.004-06:00

On the way to see my sister in Spanaway (near Tacoma), we stopped in Spokane. Tamra told me about this cool park. Here's some pictures of just a few of the neat things there. After going to the park and driving around Spokane, my kids decided that we needed to move there.

Notice the giant red wagon in the background. That's the reason why we went to this park, but it was closed because the city was painting it before summer. The handle is a giant slide. My kids were really bummed, but figure we'll go back when it's open. We'll see about that! I don't think I can handle taking all of them that far by myself again (Dale didn't come on the trip with us; he had to work.)

These are pictures of the garbage eating goat. It has a vacuum inside it and kids love to put garbage in its mouth because then it 'eats' it.

Elora insisted in wearing shorts. Silly girl! On our way back home, we stopped in Spokane again and the kids wanted to go back, but it was so snowy that I couldn't see very far ahead of me and I definitely wasn't going to take them to the park in that weather.

Easter

2008-04-10T11:56:00.003-06:00

Here's just a few pics of our Easter hunt that we had in our basement because, yes, you guessed it! The ground was covered in snow and it was really cold outside. We invited some friends over and the kids had a great time.

Good news, bad news

2008-04-10T11:36:00.005-06:00

Bad news:
I'm still in my robe and pj's and it's almost noon.
My CD player in the van broke, so not only can I not listen to CD's anymore, 6 of my CD's are stuck in there--3 of which are Collective Soul!
It's still snowy here! (It has snowed three days this week.)
Elias has an ear infection in both ears.
Dalan burned his finger (3rd degree) when the fireplace screen fell on his hand and it's looking infected.
Eli (my brother) had an accident with the 4-wheeler a couple days ago and broke his neck.
Matt (my brother-in-law) is being deployed to Iraq in a few weeks.

Good news:
I can get dressed any time I want, I'm just lazy.
I guess eventually I might get the CD player fixed; until then, I have the internet, but I can't get most of the Collective Soul songs I want. Oh well, I'll survive. At least the engine didn't break.
Someday it will be warmer; at least, that's what I keep telling myself.
We got some antibiotics and Elias is feeling much better.
We have bandaids and Neosporin--if only Dalan would leave it alone.
Eli had surgery last night and everything is going to be alright, he just has 3 months of recovery ahead; but he will still be able to go on a mission.
Matt is well-trained and we have faith that the Lord will take care of him, no matter what happens.

I'm practicing having a 'Pollyanna' attitude in finding the bright side of every situation. I guess we really can find good in everyting life hands us!

Another TAG

2008-04-04T21:11:00.002-06:00

10 YEARS AGO:
I was a Senior at Fruita Monument High School, in Fruita, Colorado. I worked at Zuka (Jamba) Juice and was looking forward to graduating. I never thought that in ten years I'd be married, have 4 kids, and live in Idaho!

FIVE PLACES I HAVE VISITED:
1. All 48 contiguous states
2. New York City
3. Mexico City
4. Cancun
5. Washington DC

FIVE THINGS ON MY TO DO LIST: I didn't know if this was daily to do, or lifetime, so I put both!
Daily
1. Shower (yes, I have to put this on my list, or it doesn't get done)
2. Clean the bathrooms
3. Update my blog with trip to Spokane, Seattle, and Spanaway
4. Vacuum out the van
5. Play with my kids individually (I've decided they need more one-on-one time with mom)

Lifetime
1. Go on mission with spouse
2. Visit Asia and Europe
3. Own a business
4. um....oh! Build another house (my 'dream house')
5. Take Tamra (my lifelong best friend, who's never seen the ocean) to the ocean

THREE BAD HABITS:
1. I will eat the whole bag of M&M's by myself (I'm talking about the big $2.50 bags, not the little 50 cent ones) (I bought a bag of peanut butter M&M's from the Easter clearance sales and finished it off today)
2. I am very critical of other people in my mind (that made it sound like I have other people in my mind that I'm critical of) (Jeez, I'm even critical of myself!)
3. I love to lay in bed in the morning as long as possible (I stay in bed until the kids start fighting, or break something, or they make a giant cereal mess)

FIVE THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT ME...
1. I love to dance, but only do it at home, by myself, 'cause Dale doesn't dance.
2.I'm addicted to Guitar Hero and I've only played it a couple of times. (But I really want to buy a Playstation or XBox, just so I can own it. I also imagine playing it when songs come on the radio that have a lot of guitar. Yes, I know I'm weird!)
3. I like punk music.
4. I would love to live by the ocean someday
5. I think feet are absolutely disgusting!

I tag Audrey, Bonnie, and Katie.

Recipe #2

2008-03-20T14:30:00.002-06:00

I've been a slacker on the recipe thing, but here's the next one, finally. This is a favorite of my entire family. My mom made something similar when I was little, but we never really had a name for it. My kids always call it chicken pillows, chicken rolls, or chicken biscuits. I guess it could be called chicken in a biscuit, like the cracker. Anyway, here it is.

Chicken Pillows
2 chicken breasts (or turkey) (cooked and shredded or chopped)
1 8oz container of neufchatel (or cream cheese--neufchatel has less fat)
3 Tbsp milk
1/4 c. green onions or chopped yellow or white onions, or less, depending on taste
1/2 c. grated cheese (we use cheddar)
1/4 tsp garlic powder

2 packages of refrigerated biscuit dough (or homemade biscuit dough works, too)

Optional:
1/4 c. butter/margarine, melted
3/4 c. cracker crumbs

Mix cream cheese (neufchatel) and milk with a beater until soft; add onions, chicken, garlic and grated cheese.

Flatten biscuits; place 2 Tbsp of chicken mixture on a biscuit, cover with another biscuit and seal edges; continue with remainder of filling and biscuits. You should end up with 10 chicken pillows. (If you have leftover filling, it makes great chicken salad sandwiches!)
Dip the chicken pillows in melted butter/margarine and roll in crumbs. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown all over. Serve with chicken or turkey gravy poured over the top of chicken pillows. (For less fat, don't do the crumb/butter coating)
You can also use turkey--it's a great way to use leftovers from Thanksgiving for something different.

Dale and I in our hippie days....

2008-03-16T17:21:00.002-06:00

Ok, so Dale and I were never Hippies, nor do we ever plan on being such, but I was looking through some old pictures and found this one and thought it was funny. We look so young and hairy and I thought you all would enjoy seeing it, too. (The baby in the picture is Kydee; I think this was taken around August 2001).

Relief Society

2008-03-16T17:06:00.004-06:00

I went to a Relief Society (women's church group) enrichment meeting the other night and came home with this:

Yes, you saw that right--I got a bruise the size of my hand at an enrichment meeting. It's on the outside of my upper right thigh. I almost didn't put a picture because I had to show a lot of skin, but I wanted everyone to see the actual damage. Aren't the colors pretty?

We were playing a scavenger hunt-type game where we had to find certain items from our purses and run them up to the front of the room before everyone else. I ran into a table, but I made it up there first (barely) and our team won! It hurt really bad for a couple of days, but now it just looks really pretty. Who knew Relief Society could be so dangerous?!

I love Collective Soul!

2008-02-27T14:07:00.004-07:00

I just thought that I should let all of you out in cyberspace to know that I am a TOTAL Collective Soul freak! Whenever I'm having a bad day, or feeling sad, or cleaning house, or feeling really great, or what ever, I listen to Collective Soul and I feel better. They've been my favorite band since I had a favorite band (over 11 years) and I love 'em even more now than I did back in 1995! I even listened to the cd Youth while I was in labor with Elias!
I've gone to two of their concerts, one on my 19th birthday (that was only like the best birthday, ever!) and Dale and I went two days after our anniversary last summer (July 17, 2007). It was Dale's first concert and he finally understands why someone would pay more to go to a concert only to hear songs once than just buying the CD and listening to it as many times as you want.
So, if you're looking for some rockin' good music, check 'em out! (I'm listening to them right now!) They're albums are in order of release, as follows: Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid; Collective Soul; Disciplined Breakdown; Dosage; 7even Year Itch (Greatest Hits); Blender (this is the only album I wouldn't recommend buying--I don't know what happened with this one, but it wasn't that great; in fact, it almost made me stop liking them, yikes!), Youth; and Afterwords. They also have a newer acoustic CD that I don't have, and I don't remember what it's called. I have all of the aforementioned CD's, except Afterwords. I used to have Afterwords, but I gave it to my best friend and fellow Collective Soul-mate, Tamra. It's only for sale at Target and she lives over a hundred miles from the nearest Target (poor thing!), so I gave mine to her, thinking that I'd just get another one at the Target here. The only problem was that was 3 months ago and Target never has it in stock when I go! Luckily, you can listen to all the songs from Afterwords on http://www.collectivesoul.com/, so I haven't had to go too long without my Collective Soul fix (besides the other 6-7 CD's that I have), but I would like to listen to it in the car, too! I just looked online, and it says that there's some in-stock at Target, so I'm going to call today and make sure before I go over there. Wish me luck!

Update: I went to Target and (gasp) there was only one copy of the CD left, so I quickly grabbed it and didn't let it out of my sight the rest of the time I was in the store. I looked online to see if you can get Afterwords on half.com or ebay, and you can, but it's really expensive, so I'm tempted to buy any/all copies I find at Target (if it's possible to buy any) and sell them online for a profit. Would that be wrong? On one hand, it'd be profitting off my favorite group, and on the other hand, I'd be sharing them with others who might not get the CD any other way....such a dilemma!

Wonder Woman Strikes Again!

2008-02-21T15:55:00.014-07:00

I've been pretty bored lately, what with the taking care of a 1st grader, wild boy (aka Dalan), princess (Elora), and little goobling, and doing laundry, cleaning, and making meals; so I thought, "Hey, why not do another home improvement project?!" (Note the slight hint of sarcasm.)

I've always hated our half bath (I say that like I've had to endure it for so long--poor me), so I figured I could redo it so easily and then I wouldn't hate it anymore. Here's the 'before' and 'work in progress' pictures. There was a mirror hanging where that patch of tan paint is...I took it down before I thought of taking pictures. It was really ugly; it looked like the ones you see in old apartment buildings, with the shelf with the sliding doors on the bottom.

Redoing the bathroom was a much bigger pain than I thought it would be. I had to replace part of the subfloor where the old vanity was and I basically had to beat the old vanity with a hammer until it was in pieces before I could get it out and still leave the pipes intact. Also, the pipes I had aren't the right size, so the sink still isn't hooked up. I'm hoping my dad can help me when he comes to visit next week.

So, after about $125 and two days later, here's the 'after.' (Don't you just love how I took a picture of myself in the mirror!) As you can see, I still need to get some trim and fill in the gaps where the old vanity used to be and I need to replace the light fixture, but other than that, everything is done. It's hard to tell from this picture, but the walls used to be white and now they're light green. I replaced the vanity and mirror, replaced the wax ring on the toilet (Dale helped with that part), laid vinyl tiles for the flooring, and painted. I think it looks pretty good and it's not so crowded anymore. Well, my children are beating on each other again--they must be training for a career in cage fighting--so I better sign off. If you ever need a home improvement helper, call me and I'll be right over. (I just love doing this kind of thing!)

Snowshoe trek update and pics

2008-02-21T11:57:00.009-07:00

Well, the guys all made it back safely, but a little sore. Here's some highlights from their trip.

Here's a giant slide that they played on by the girls camp.

Ahhh! A nice warm fire!

They had to climb on the roof to get cell phone reception to send us a text message so we'd know they were okay. Notice Ben on the roof in the upper left-hand of the picture.

The old men (Dale and Kelly) were about to die by the time they made it back to the truck.

The youngster looks like he's ready to go again.

I am so proud of my husband for trying this out. He actually wants to go back with just me; I told him I'd be happy to go in the summer!

Recipes

2008-02-20T23:03:00.004-07:00

I was reading on a friend's blog, (thanks, Darcy) and she suggested that we (the people whose blogs she reads) post a favorite recipe every week so that we can all get new ideas for meals. I thought it was a great idea and have taken it upon myself to spread the word. So, all of you reading this, please post good meal ideas on your blogs, every week, if possible. Then we can all have new, tasty ideas from other busy moms to try out.
For my first, I'm going to post a family favorite. It's the most requested meal from my children--besides cold cereal :-). Oh, by the way; it sounds kinda , well actually, totally weird, but just make them and taste them and you'll be hooked, I promise! (I got this recipe from my sister when she was living in Tennessee--I think it gets it's name from the cornbread and pork and beans)

Tennessee Tacos Tortillas (for lack of a better word):
Make corn bread batter from your favorite recipe, or mix, and add extra milk until it's the consistency of pancake batter.

My corn bread recipe is:
1 c. flour 1 c. milk
1 c. corn meal 1/4 c. oil
1 Tbsp baking powder 2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
(I'm guessing I add about 1/4 c. milk, maybe less, to make right consistency, but I'm not sure).

Pour out on griddle and cook like you would pancakes (6in diameter circles).

Taco Filling:
Brown 1/2 pound of ground beef (or turkey). Add 2 cans of pork and beans and 1 packet of taco seasoning mix. Heat thoroughly.

Serve like Navajo tacos: lay cornbread pancake-tortilla-thing flat on plate, spread filling on, top with shredded cheese, salsa, sour cream, whatever else you normally put on tacos. (Eat with fork; don't try to pick up and eat unless you want a big mess!)

Like I said, it sounds really weird, even bordering on gross, but it's really yummy! Also, my kids like to have the leftover cornbread things as pancakes the next day.

Men and the silly things they do...

2008-02-15T11:11:00.006-07:00

At six o'clock this morning, I sent my husband off on a snowshoeing backpacking trip--yes, you read that right; my husband! I'm talking about a man who hates snow, has never been backpacking, or snowshoeing (much less did them at the same time), who never heard of a sterno can until last night when I showed him how to make pigs-in-a-blanket (another thing he'd never heard of), gets lost really easy (if I point out north and ask him which way is east, he can't tell me), and did I mention the hating snow part?! I am so nervous!
He and his two buddies decided this would be a great time of year to go backpacking; personally, I think they spent too much time together and got high off the testosterone fumes, but whatever. Anyway, only one of them has ever actually made a snow cave (oh, yeah; I didn't mention that part; they're sleeping in a snow cave), or has been snowshoeing, or backpacking. Do any of them think there's any problem with this? No way! "If he can do it, I can!"
Ben (the one who's done all these things) almost couldn't go because he couldn't find a babysitter for their two-month-old son (their normal babysitter was sick). Last night at about 8 'o clock, he calls and tells us that he might not be able to make it, but he'll just tell Dale and Kelly (his other buddy) how to get to where they're going. Kelly has watched someone build a snow cave and he's been in the same area (aka: on the same mountain range) that they're planning on hiking, so he figures that's pretty much the same as having done it and been there himself, so no problem! (At this point, I was getting extremely nervous. I mean, I wouldn't mind having my house paid for, but I'd rather have my husband instead of life insurance money.) I told Ben that I'd watch the baby while his wife worked. He thought I was being so benevolent, but the truth is, I was much more comfortable sending my husband out into the wild outdoors with Ben, and the only way he could go was if I watched his kid.
So, now I'm at home taking care of my 4 kids and another one who's two months younger than Elias. I've always wanted twins and today's probably the closest it's gonna get, so I guess I'll see how I would handle it. I don't know who has the greater chance of surviving, me or Dale...I'll let you know about the funeral arrangements as soon as possible! :-)

Update: Dale, et al found a church girls camp (minus the girls) and are staying in one of the cabins overnight instead of a snow cave. (I have no idea if they broke in, or what; Ben's wife just got a short text message and that's all we know) Also, I made it through the day just fine and figure I can handle having twins. I guess all I have to do now is put my order in and wait...

Snow, snow, and more snow

2008-02-08T12:09:00.000-07:00

It has snowed almost every day since we got home from Christmas break! The snow is so deep, Elora can't even walk around in it. Our roof has so much ice that it keeps leaking when it gets warm enough to melt, so Dale and I have to climb up an icy ladder and chip away the ice with a hammer. I will take some pictures and post them ASAP. Oh, by the way...we haven't even gone sledding yet because it's been so cold, so we can' t even enjoy all this snow! Kydee's already had two days of cancelled school because of the cold and we're expecting more. Take this as a warning to stay away from Idaho! It's too cold!

Spare time

2008-01-25T15:32:00.000-07:00

I decided to recruit for familysearch.org on my blog. It's a geneological website that provides information for people to find their ancestors. I've had a lot of spare time when I nurse Elias. I've been reading books, but I have a hard time picking books to read (any suggestions are greatly welcome!). I heard that it was pretty easy to volunteer to index (read microfilm and input the info into a spreadsheet so that people can search for specific names), so I looked up the website (familysearchindexing.org) and signed up. Now I do a batch of names every day, while Kydee does her homework and Elias takes a nap or nurses. I really like feeling like I'm doing something productive and it's so easy! I can do it whenever I want and I can work on it for as long as I want. Anyway, if you're a stay-at-home mom like me, or have extra time (it's amazing how much time is freed up once you stop watching TV--and I didn't watch much before) you should try it!

Our new van

2008-01-25T14:32:00.000-07:00

On the way to Cedar City for Christmas, our van broke. Luckily, we were only an hour away from home and we were able to make it back. My parents wanted us to be there for Christmas so badly that my dad drove all that night to come get us. We took our little Kia and between that and my parents' car, we fit us and all our stuff and drove on down to Cedar. We wasted $1075 getting the van fixed and then decided to just get a new van before our old one broke again (it had 185,000 miles and lots of things kept going wrong). We found a really good deal on a 2006 Toyota Sienna. It had about 18,000 miles on it and lots of cool features, like two side doors (I guess all vans have that nowadays, but our old one didn't), a power sliding door, 5-disc CD player, Sto-n-go seats (they fold down flat into the floor), stuff like that. So far, we really like it and we hope that it will last us a really long time so we don't have to go through the pain of buying a car again. That was our first time shopping for a new car--we've always just bought junkers from private parties because we happened upon good deals. Actually, I use the term 'we' loosely. I took Dalan, Elora, and Elias down to Salt Lake to look at vans that I found online, while Kydee was at school and Dale went to work. The prices were so good that I was afraid that they would be gone if we waited until Saturday when we could all go (it was Monday). I turned out to be right, because my first pick was sold already, but I found another deal that was very similar, so everything turned out ok. I just don't want to take three little kids car shopping all day again--well, maybe it was good, because the dealers didn't seem to want them to be there any longer than they had to, so they didn't waste time haggling and trying to sell me junk that I didn't want. Maybe next time I'll buy ice cream cones for the kids to hurry the salesmen up even more!

TAG

2008-01-03T15:23:00.000-07:00

My sister, Ariane, tagged me, so here's my answers to the following questions (some of the questions were dumb, like who's taller, so I took them off and added different ones):
How long have you been together? 8 years, married 7 1/2
How long did you date? We were friends for about 6 months, dated for about 2 1/2 after that and were engaged for 3 months after that--pretty quick movers, I guess.
How old is he? 31
How old are you? 27
Who said I love you first? Dale
Who sings better? I do; Dale's tonedeaf, but he has other talents, so that's ok
Who is smarter? hard to say--but I am right most of the time! Just kidding! The funny thing is, I majored in marketing and Dale got a better grade in the one marketing class we took together and he majored in accounting and I got a better grade in the acounting class that we took together.
Who does the laundry? Me; Dale tries to help, but I usually get too annoyed cuz he forgets to use fabric softener and the clothes get all static-y. My kids like to think they help and they're actually starting to become better at sorting and I let them fold their own clothes (if only they would always consider that a privilege!)
Who does the dishes? Dale--he's such a good husband!
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Currently, if you're laying in the bed, I'm on the right, but we switch sometimes if the furniture gets rearranged. I like to sleep farthest from the door (I get paranoid about bad guys coming in and need Dale between them and me. Our last bedroom was very difficult because it had two doors and I had to be closest to one of them. I had to just not think about it--I know, I'm weird.)
Who pays the bills? I do, but Dale does the budget
Who mows the lawn? I do, but I'm hoping Dale will next summer.
Who cooks dinner? I do, and Dale makes lunch.
Who drives when you are together? Me--I love to drive and Dale doesn't; plus I have a really good sense of direction and Dale has a terrible one.
Who is more stubborn? Well, I would say Dale is and he would say I am, so I guess we're both pretty darn stubborn.
Who kissed whom first? I guess he kissed me first,
but I looked up at him cuz I figured he was going to try.
Who asked whom out? Dale asked me out several times; I went as a friend, but when I found out he was interested in a relationship I told him "no way!" It took me several months of friendship before I decided I liked him more than just a friend. He says he was in love from the second time we met.
Who is more sensitive? I get sad easier, but Dale definitely gets mad easier
Who has more friends? Dale; I don't have very many friends outside of family members
Who has more siblings? me - 1 sister, 4 brothers; Dale has 2 brothers and 2 sisters
What do you like to do together? Watch movies, play with our kids, read

I don't know if anyone reads this, but if you do, I tag Darci, Audrey, and Tamra

Elora's 3rd Birthday

2007-12-10T17:02:00.000-07:00

Elora turned 3 on the 5th! She had some friends over and got a Barbie, a little piano, a babydoll, and an aquadoodle. She loves all her presents and can't decide which one she likes most. She had lots of fun playing in the cardboard box filled with wrapping paper, too!

Yay! She's three!

For about three days afterwards, she kept asking me if she was still three. When I explained that she would be three until her next birthday, her eyes got really big, and she said, "Really?; yay!" I guess she thought she would go back to being two after her birthday was over.

First Snow of the Year!

2007-12-10T15:11:00.000-07:00

We finally got snow here! We've had a few dustings before, but nothing that stayed for more than a few hours--until today. The kids were so excited that they went out to play before I even got up this morning. They've been going out all day and after much begging and pleading, I finally went out with them.

( Before they threw the snowballs at me)

After they threw them (I was trying to get them mid-air, but it didn't work)

Elias' Blessing

2007-11-25T16:21:00.000-07:00

Elias got blessed today in church. Dale blessed him that he would be a powerful missionary and a force for good. Here's a few of our attempts at a family picture (we've decided to leave this to the professionals and get it done at a studio sometime this week) and some cute ones of Elias.

New Flooring

2007-11-20T17:04:00.000-07:00

Yes...another project! I figured since I was finished painting (at least for a while) that I needed something else to do on our house. Because Thanksgiving was only 2 weeks away and my family was coming to eat here, I thought, 'Why not replace the plush carpet in our dining room and the tile in our entryway with laminate wood flooring?' So, that Saturday, I went to the hardware store and bought a sledgehammer to break out the tile. Dale and the kids ripped up the carpet while I was gone. We put goggles on the kids and handed them some hammers and they went to it! They really seemed to enjoy beating the tile to pieces. After they got tired, I broke the tile with the sledgehammer and then Dale tore it all up with the wonderbar. About halfway through breaking the tile, Dale said, "We're not going to finish this today, are we?" He thought we'd be finished by bedtime with taking all the old flooring out and putting in the new laminate! I started laughing and told him it would take a long time. As it ended up, I laid flooring for 4 hours on Saturday and then finished it up off and on all day Monday, so it didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would. I think it turned out rather nice...way better than the plush carpet. I mean, who the heck puts light gray plush in a dining room?! It got very dirty, very easily; plus, it was hard to get up and down from the table because the chairs would get stuck in the carpet.

Now I'm thinking about redoing the entire main floor in this laminate....but I'll save that project for another time. Wonder Woman's had enough for today!

Confessions of a Super Mom!

2007-11-20T15:39:00.000-07:00

I get called 'Super Mom' all the time, but the truth is that I feel like I'm always behind in my housecleaning, rarely get dressed before lunch (if at all), and feel lucky if my family eats something besides ready-made meals for dinner. Here's what I look like most days (except add a baby in my arms and picture me pulling out my hair from not knowing how to deal with my preschoolers).

Every once in a while, though, I actually get dressed and clean the house and feel like I really accomplish a lot. On those days, I feel like Wonder Woman!

Ok, I know I'm silly. I was bored today...what can I say!?

Our family portrait

2007-11-13T12:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, since some of you have requested a picture of Dale and I, here's a family portrait we had taken January of 2007. That was before I was pregnant with Elias and before I cut my hair (you can't see it very well, but it was almost to my waist then); now I weigh 25 pounds more and have hair that's just past my shoulders. I soon hope to lose the weight and am growing my hair out again, so we'll just pretend I still look like that. Elias is obviously missing from this photograph, as well. We're planning on getting another family picture soon, but we'll see how that goes. I was going to schedule the appointment last week, and then Dalan got a black eye while he was playing on the playground. It seems like something like that happens everytime I'm going to schedule our session. This picture may be on here for a year, the way things go around here. Anyway, now you know what we look like.

House in Idaho Falls

2007-11-04T18:07:00.000-07:00

Here's our house in Idaho Falls. All the walls were white when we moved in and I couldn't stand it, so I had a marathon painting tour. Dale thought I was nuts, but now that everything's painted, he admits that it looks/feels much better. I'm going to eventually paint every room, but I still have the basement stairway, family room, office, laundry room, and master bathroom left.

Here's the living room. Dale and his friend Kelly painted the vaulted part. I was very glad to have their help. Eventually, a shelf will go around the whole room where the two different colors meet. Until then, it will look a little weird, but we've got to save up some money before that project.

Here's our bedroom. The walls were the color of pistachio pudding, or mint chocolate chip ice cream, (you can still see it around the top, where we haven't finished touch-up painting) both of which I find disgusting. I felt like puking every time I walked in the room, so it was the first to be painted. Now the walls are a light olive green. Ahhhh! Much better!

(Dining room) The yellow is a little darker than I was planning, but oh well.

(Kitchen) I've been wanting to paint a room red for a while, but never had the guts to do it. I was daring and decided to paint the kitchen and breakfast nook red in this house and I love it!

(Kydee's room) I think this paint job turned out so cute! Kydee loves it; I would have loved it when I was a little girl, too.

Dalan's room is light blue with Superman stickers all over. In our Cedar house, he wanted Spiderman decorations, so I painted a city skyline on the wall and put Spiderman stickers up that looked like Spiderman was swinging from the buildings. This time he decided he wanted Superman.

Elora wanted a pink room, so 'what the princess wants, the princess gets.'

Here's the TV part of our family room.

Here's the play area of the family room. Yes, I know...our kids are spoiled.

So, now that you've seen our house, feel free to really come see it. We would love to have any of our friends and family come visit.

Cedar City house that we built

2007-11-04T00:00:00.000-06:00

Here's some pictures of our beautiful little house in Cedar City. We miss living close to so many relatives--we had no idea how much we'd miss everyone until we moved away.

This vanity was an old buffet that we found at a thrift store. The top was ruined, but that didn't matter, since we were going to use it for a vanity. We just cut out the drawers, nailed the fronts shut, and put plumbing up through the back. After I came up with this idea, I actually saw it on a home improvement show. Aren't I so creative?!

Here's the master bath. It's a double showerhead with real marble tile that my aunt Melanie and I hung.

Here's our living room. I did all the wood flooring myself. It was a lot of work, but worth it; I think it looks so pretty!

My kitchen was huge in this house. I loved it.

It's been really hard to go from designing and building a house to having to pick one on the market. I liked being able to customize everything. I redid the plans for the entire interior of our Cedar City house.

Bear World--where all your dreams come true

2007-11-03T23:37:00.001-06:00

This spring, Ariane and Matt came to visit and we went to Yellowstone Bear World in Rigby. Here's some pics; it was fun!
They have bears there from Yellowstone that have become too used to humans. We got to see lots of full-grown bears and some cute little cubs. We didn't get there early enough to feed the cubs, but the kids loved petting the deer. As we were driving into the park, Kydee said, "Bear World. Bear World. Where all your dreams come true!" It was funny.

New Baby

2007-11-03T22:59:00.000-06:00

Here's Kydee, Elora, and Dalan with their new baby brother. Elias Martineau Barbee was born October 2, 2007 (his father's birthday) at 12:08 p.m.and weighed 10 lbs. 2 oz. We're so excited to have him in our family.

2007-07-27T16:59:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! I created this blog about two years ago and never did anything with it until now. Anyway, we just bought a new house. Email me to get our address and phone if you need it. We'll be moving between Aug. 14 and 23. I will post some pics as soon as I get some. See ya!