Sick but kept going

Over the past few weeks I've had the WORST head ache known to man.  I've tried everything to get it to go away but it just dims a little bit.  Well today I got my answer as to why I've been in so much pain.  I had to go to the doctors to get my A.D.H.D. meds' refilled and while I was there I told him about my head aches.  He checked my ears and sure enough I have an ear infection as well as a sinus infection, thus the head aches.  Needless to say I went right to the store and got the prescribed antibiotics.  Now I just need a good nights sleep which hasn't come easy.
Ryan & I have decided that Mason in big enough for time outs now and shouldn't be treated like such a baby any more.  Which is hard for me because he is my baby.  So for the past few days when ever he hits his sister in the head with a hockey stick we have put him into time out, which is followed by much weeping and wailing.  The thing I just figured out this morning is that those days that he has been put into time out and gotten into trouble are the nights that follow with him waking up screaming.  He always has bad dreams those night that follow a sentenced time out.  Once I cuddle with him and he knows that I'm there to love him he can go back to sleep without much trouble.  Go figure...I hope that this behavior will last.  Not the bad dreams but the bad conscience.
Two days ago, on Monday, Ethan and Holly both wake up early, dressed and ready to go.  They then come and wake me up with the announcement that we are walking to school.  Talk about short notice for me because the school is about a mile from our house.  Which means I have got to get up, make Ethan's lunch, get myself ready, wake Mason up and ready in half the time I'm used to.  We finally made the compromise to drive halfway to the city park, then get out and walk from there.  So off we went.  The kids where happy when I dropped them off and then Mason and I turned around and walked back to our van.  Mason liked it because we stopped so he could play at the park for a little while before we went home.
The whole walk was 1 mile round trip and boy am I out of shape!  I need to walk more so I have decided to drive to the park and walk to the school and back once a day, since I make 3 trips to the school each and everyday.  I could build up to walking from our house to the school, which is 2+ miles round trip.  We will see if I can make it to walking twice a day but that is a ways off.
I woke up this morning stiff and sore, but I walked today too.  I hope that I can walk again tomorrow and keep it going.  I'm proud of myself, especially since I found out that I have been sick the whole time.  Now I need a nap!

The Final Catch Up (Sept. to Now)

As promised here I am with the final post to get all caught up with the events of our lives to date.  Last month we had some adjustments to make with our routine and schedules with school starting.  We go through this every year because of new homework routines that go along with new teachers.  I find that it is also a good time to set some new goals for the new school year and to give new responsibilities to the kids.
We made a goal to start having Family Home Evening each and every week.  Ryan and I just felt that anything and everything we could do to bring our family closer together as well as inviting the spirit into our home was worth it.  It meant that we wouldn't be able to have my niece and nephew over on Monday nights as we did last year, while my sister-in-law, Ashley went to school up at Weber State University.  We did invite them to join us but my brother Rayn is inactive in the church and my sister-in-law is not a member.  They both wanted to make sure to teach their children what they believe while they are young and then leave it up to them when they get older if they want to learn about the LDS church.  Which Ryan and I totally respect, but we will miss having Kyla and O'wyn over.
As far as our Family Home evening goal, so far so good.  I think we have only missed one week, due to illness and things look good for us to keep it up as the kids love having it so much they are the ones to remind us.  Ethan has even prepared the lesson and taught it all on his own twice now.  He did such an awesome job, you can just see what an great missionary he will be someday.
The end of September we went up to Idaho to listen to my cousin Brad report on his mission to New Jersey.  We got up at 5:30 a.m. so we could be in Idaho Falls by 9 a.m. and get to the meeting on time.  Ryan choose to do that as he knows better than anyone that when we get together with any of my family we are always up too late.  So he decided if he was going to be tired anyway he might as well sleep in his own bed.
Brad did a great job with his talk and you could just tell he really loved the people he served on his mission.
We then when up to Julie and Doug's for a luncheon and got to visit with a lot of my family for the after noon.  It was great to see everyone and hear how they where doing.  Holly loves playing with her 2nd cousins, although they had a ruff start, you know how girls can be sometimes.  Ethan bonded with his 2nd cousin Tryson who just happens to be two weeks older than him.  I guess they both like the same video games and books so they had a lot to talk about.
But the best part of the trip, at least for me was seeing my grandpa and while we were there I happen to go out on the front porch.  I found my grandpa and Holly just sitting on a bench visiting.  I guess they had been out there a while and Holly had really fallen in love with her Grandpa the Great, as we call him.  I guess she told him all about her life and he just listened asking questions when needed to keep the conversation going.  I took a picture of them together and now Holly proudly has a copy of it framed in her room.  she asks me all the time when we can go to Canada to see Grandpa the Great.  That right there was worth the trip to Idaho and getting up at 5:30 am for.  I love that my children have at least a little bit of an opportunity to get to know my side of the family even though we live far from them.  It makes me sad that we don't live closer sometimes.  Especially for special occasions like Ethan's baptism coming up, because pretty much the whole program will be made up of Ryan's family.  Don't get me wrong it's not a bad thing, it just makes me sad that we don't have family from my side that are able to participate.  Anyway on to another subject.
Holly has had a loose tooth for awhile now and just a little over a week ago I told her it needed to come out.  I happen to look at it one night and found that her new permanent tooth was coming up behind.  So we tried to tie a string to it and have her slam the door but that didn't work.  We tried to get some floss underneath it and pull it out that way but that didn't work.  At last I just got a hold of it and pulled it forward as fast and hard as I could and out it came.  Holly was a little freaked out because of the blood at first but once it stopped she was VERY proud of the hole that it left in her smile.
She put her tooth in a little bowl next to her bed and the tooth fairy brought her two sliver dollars.  Her Dad quickly gave her two paper dollars for them and now she is still trying to figure out what to spend them on.
Finally this past Sunday we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving with a full spread.  Ryan had to go to St. George for work on Monday so we had our big dinner the day before.  Can I just say that I love Martha Stewart.  Because of her my turkeys always turn our so great.  I even made sweet potatoes, which Holly helped me make and green bean casserole, which Ethan helped me make.  They each had to have some of the dish they helped with as Ryan doesn't like either and I didn't want to have to eat it all my self.
That brings us up to date with all our happenings.  Now let's just hope I can do better because I don't want to ever have to play catch up like that again.  Whew!

Summer (June, July, August)

Ryan is out of town for a few days and so I feel like I can let the house go to hell for now, and I can FINALLY take the time to get the rest of the summer happenings posted. 
We start with June, a big month.  My Mom came down to visit and took all her US grandkids to Toy R Us for their annual shopping spree.  This covers all gifts for birthdays and Christmas so that no one has to spend extra on postage and so my Mom can watch all the kids enjoy their gifts.  My kids for one talk about it all year even though I say that it is more important to spend time with their grandmother rather than just the trip to the toy store.  As always my Mom is running all over the place doing all kind of things, visiting everyone she can so we only got to see her for a few hours 3 days out of the 14 she was here.  She says it's because she is allergic to my cats but I get the feeling it's something more.  I always give her the benefit of the doubt as I know she often tries to do too much and to please too many people, but we do enjoy her while we can. 

Then latter in June we got a trampoline.  The kids have been begging us for one since we have lived in this house but not until Mason started escaping down the street to a neighbour's house, to jump on their trampoline, while they where not home I might add, did I break down and get one.  We set it up one night but didn't get the encloser on as we figured out too late that we had put the legs on wrong.  So we had to take it all apart the next night, put it back together and then put the encloser up.  Mason jumped, and jumped and jumped until it was dark.  The poor little guy was so tired that he was asleep before his head hit the pillow that night, which in my book is worth every penny we paid for the trampoline. 
In July we had a trying time.  For the Independence Day weekend we decided to just light a few small fireworks with just our family as it fell on a Sunday this year.  Ryan had gone with the kids and picked some out at our local fireworks stand the day before.  The kids were all excited and could hardly wait until dark, so they got all ready for bed before we went out.  All was well as we went along but then went wrong.  We lite off a firework that shot a little GI Joe figure in the air then came down to earth in a parachute.  Ryan had got one for each of the kids, and the first two were great except they drifted down into our neighbour's yard who lives kitty-corner across the street from us. 
So for the last one Ryan moved a good 50 feet down the street in the opposite direction before lighting the last one, in hopes of not disturbing our neighbour's who where lighting their own fireworks.  Well this time I guess part of the inside of the firework came out of the main barrel, shoot 100 feet down the street, hit the sidewalk in front of our neighbour's house and hit one of their friends square in the nose.  Blood everywhere.... of course we felt awful.  Ryan went down and talked to our neighbour to find out exactly what had happened, gave him our information, retrieved the firework casing and came home.  That put an end to our night.  There was really nothing we did wrong as the firework was legal, we took every precaution we could but in the end it was a freak accident.  The injured man turned out to be Okay, thank goodness but the stress that the incident caused was incredible. 
Ryan ended up having a little bit of a breakdown, but in the end it was good because he was able to have a full physical with his doctor and some needed adjustments to his blood pressure meds' where made.  So all worked out Okay, although we did have to deal with the insurance investigation and claims that followed. 
Finally in August the kids enjoyed the Meteor shower with their Dad on the front lawn under lots of blankets.  They had a blast and I'm sure it earned a special memory in their hearts. 
The end of August the kids started school again with Holly starting Kindergarten, which she LOVES and Ethan entering the 2nd grade.  His biggest challenge is the pack of girls that chase him and his friends around the playground at recess trying to tickle them.  Ethan my little ladies man. 
That covers our summer and just about brings us up to date.  I have a few other things to get caught up on like our trip to Idaho last month, Holly losing her first tooth and our Canadian Thanksgiving which are coming soon.  I will post it tomorrow before Ryan gets home from St. George, UT.  He is there on business for just 3 days but I'm sure that he will have lots for me to do once he gets back so I will get everything posted before he comes home if it kills me.  So check back.