BA BA BA BA BA

Dylan is getting so big so fast it seems. He is a speedy crawler these days and will switch between the classic crawl and army crawl to get him where he wants quickest. It's fun to watch. He is also pulling himself up to everything and anything. Once again we are baby proofing the house. I forget how many things they can get into in such a short time. His favorite place to be is the bathroom because the toilet is his own personal splash pool if we have forgotten to close the lid or bathroom door all together. I swear he has the radar system that alerts him any time the door is left open. He's also started to say some words. Every morning he says, "Ma ma ma ma ma" until I give him his milk and then as soon as he's done it's, "Da da da da da." He also chases his brothers around the house calling, "Ba ba ba ba ba" which we can only assume means brother. He loves those guys and just wants to be by them all the time. It's fun to see him grow every day.

The kids giveth and the kids taketh away

Sunday morning. There we were getting ready for church and Gary was talking to Logan about being a girl - their long standing joke. Logan told him that he wasn't a girl and that the only girl was me. When Gary asked him how he knew, Logan replied, "You know, can't you see the long hair and the sexy legs?" At that point we just lost it laughing. The kid cracks me up. Being a mom of four boys though, I'll take a complement where I can get it and went to church feeling pretty good about myself.

Fast forward to Sunday afternoon. Thomas, Logan and Ethan were jumping on the trampoline excited about the good weather while Gary was barbecuing and I was out holding Dylan so he wouldn't eat grass. They kept begging Gary to get on the trampoline to get them so finally I handed Dylan to Gary and jumped on. Just then Logan piped up, "AHHHHH! Run! It's the Swamp Monster!"

From sexy legs to Swamp Monster in less than 12 hours. That has to be a record.

Car Washes

So there I was, eating my breakfast in the car and waiting my turn for the car wash. After I had finished eating and cleaning out all the nooks and crannies in the front seat, I was STILL waiting my turn. It was then that I had one of my "brilliant" ideas. Gary will tell you that most of my brilliant ideas are anything but brilliant but I give into them almost every time they hit anyway.

I thought to myself, "Why am I waiting in line for the automatic car wash that will cost me more when I can move to the self-serve in the next stall over and get some exercise while saving some money?" OK, I know using the spraying wand thing hardly counts as exercise but......

So I popped the car in reverse and slid over all the while smirking and thinking that the poor guy in front of me will probably still be in the automatic wash as I drive off with my sparkling clean car.

I get out and try to put in my crisp new $5 bill about ten times before I realize that the machine must not be able to read the new format for the $5. By this time the guy in front of me has pulled into the automatic wash and I can hear the water spraying. I pull out the debit card and after a few attempts, I get it to work and the fun begins. It says it will only charge up to $5 at a swipe so I am thinking I will be getting off cheap. After all, the automatic wash is $7. I start washing away.

About half way through the cycle of choices, I hear the dryer go on in the automatic wash and a minute or so later, see my "competition" drive off. A few seconds after that, the wash stops because I have used all my $5 worth of time. MAN! I still need to rinse, clear coat, rinse, triple foam coat, rinse, and spot free rinse. By this time my fingers are frozen - did I mention it was only 40 degrees and I'm only in a sweater?

Well, $10 and a few frozen fingers later, my car is sparkling clean. It took twice as long as it would have to wait in line, $3 more to clean it, and it wasn't dry like it would have been but I guess I still did get the exercise I was looking for! You should have seen me when the high power spray started! I could barely stay on the ground. Note to self: wear good shoes if you want to wash your car and be prepared with time and quarters!

Dentists, dentists, and more dentists

Our family has two dentists; one for the kids and a different one for the adults. I should say that I have a different dentist than the kids because Gary doesn't go more than once every few years even with all my pushing and prodding. Well, this is the time of year that the appointments come around again. Every six months I start the dentist cycle. I will admit that the reason it is such a chore is because I am too chicken to take more than one child to the dentist at a time. So, first was Ethan this time around. It was his first cleaning and the kid did great. Loved every minute of it, especially picking a toy out of the belly of the toy robot on his way out the door. Next was Logan, still just as amazing. No cavities and a toy out of the robot. Finally, for the kids at least, was Tom. Great kid with no cavities and he even had his first complete head x-ray. I don't know if that is the exact name of the x-ray but it is the one where he stands up and the machine moves around his entire head. Technology is too cool.

So, thinking everything is great and we are done for another six months I was a bit surprised when the dentist recommended Tom go to the orthodontist as soon as we could get him in for a consultation. He has TONS of room between his teeth. They are PERFECTLY straight. Why the orthodontist? He seems to have an under bite that hasn't corrected itself. GRRRR......

Well, one free consultation later, we found out we will be into braces a small fortune and it will take quite some time - possibly having braces twice - to fix everything. The semi-good news is that it doesn't need to happen until our insurance kicks in after the start of the year although we do need to go see him again in three months. He can't do anything until he has at least four adult teeth to work with. Yes, Tom is about done with second grade and yes he has only lost four teeth and only has three adult ones in.

I got to go to the dentist today and guess what? NO CAVITIES! Where is my toy out of the robot's belly? They really should have a reward for the parents if we don't have cavities don't you think?

Breast Cancer 3-day

A couple of years ago Linda, Gary's boss when we were first married, joined the 3 day walk for breast cancer research. When she came home, she said it was one of the most amazing experiences. I have thought about it off and on for a few years now and I think this fall may be the time to join in. It's kind of a big commitment though. I would really like to do it with Gary but that just doubled the amount of money we would need to raise along with the number of airline tickets we would need to buy to get us there. Each person must raise a minimum of $2200 to walk the 60 miles in three days as well as pay a $90 registration fee. It's all a bit steep but I think we could pull it off if we started now. If anyone has too many sky miles building up in your delta account, feel free to donate some to us! I'll be sending out letters asking for support after we officially register. I hope we can do it. It is for a great cause and every little bit helps. Gary isn't sure I could handle 60 miles in 3 days which, for those of you who know me, just makes me that much more determined to do it. I'll keep you all posted with the progress and let you know as soon as we register. Let me know if you think we can pull it off!

Sofa, loveseat, ottoman and a marriage

Gary and I have been married for over ten years and have yet to purchase new living room furniture. He brought the couch he found when living in an apartment before we got married and when it wore out, his sister Laura gave us their couch and recliner because they were getting new ones. Well, it was time to make the plunge and get some furniture. The other set was worn, to say the least, and had out lived it's comfortable days. Once our tax return came in, the search began.

We knew we wanted leather, chocolate or slightly lighter shade of brown, sofa and love seat, and maybe a recline option. It was good that we decided this before we began looking. We started in Pocatello and sat on about every set that could meet at least one of our requirements but came up empty handed. Next we moved on to Idaho Falls and there fell in love with a set after looking at dozens more. We liked the set so much that we ordered one that was similar, wrote out the check and began the wait because it was going to take eight weeks to come in. A week later we got the call that they no longer made the love seat and we would have to start our search all over again. UGH!

Last weekend while we were in Utah for Jacob Moss' Eagle Court of Honor (CONGRATS JACOB!) we made a few more furniture stops before finding the set we liked. So, finally, we have a new living room set! WOOO HOOOO! Well, not exactly have - it's suppose to be delivered today. Here is the link to the sofa although the picture isn't the best and it looks WAY better in person :)

http://www.rcwilley.com/GetProductDetail.soa?modelNumber=8150-30

The best thing is, Gary and I made it through without a major break down in communication and I think we are both happy with the outcome. Maybe we can build a house together in the future!
If you can make it through furniture shopping, you should be able to make it through just about anything, right?

The Dentist and a 3 year-old

Apparently I've been missing for a couple of months. Things have been as crazy as ever and I've been feeling a bit under the weather and not much like writing but hopefully now I'm back in the swing of things.

So today was Ethan's first real check-up with the dentist - complete with x-rays and cleaning. I was bit worried that he wouldn't let them anywhere near his teeth so on the way there the bribery started. First I offered a call to Grandma if he was good but I could tell that wasn't a deal maker. So, after thinking about what he would like most that wouldn't break the bank, I told him we could take a treat to Gary at work if he was good. I don't know if it was that or if he was just in an extremely cooperative mood but the kid was GREAT!

When the hygienist asked if he would do x-rays, I said probably and sure enough he was on board for pictures of his teeth. He did everything she asked from opening his little mouth wide enough to clean them and then closing it to let the suction straw get everything out to talking to the dentist when he came in. What a trooper. And best of all, no cavities!