I thought I had better clarify why I’m in the car so much with school. My four school-age kids are in 3 different schools. D is in 9th at the Middle School, C is in 6th at Intermediate, N is in 1st at the Elmentary and H is in Kindergarten at the same school as N, but we only have half-day here for Kindergarten so I have to go to the Elementary school three different times for drop-offs and pick-ups each day. C’s school being on the other side of town means they use buses, so she is able to ride them which is really nice, but the other three attend closer schools so there are no buses for them which means I’m ususally scrambling to get them all to school on time with three different start times for all of them.

N was in an all-day Kindergarten program last year that had a limited enrollment (no more than 15 children total in the class) and was very hard to even get in to. In fact the only reason I got him in was because I know the teachers, but this year they moved it to a different school and they changed the teachers so I didn’t have an “in” for H. Darn it all! N thrived in the all-day program and he is now reading better than anyone else in his class, and he really loved his time there. He didn’t have a hard time at all being gone a full school day, and I really believe they learn more in all-day since they are there long enough to actually have an effective lesson plan.

So as you can tell I am a big proponent for all-day Kindergarten, and I wish it was available in our school district for all of the kids. What do you think? What’s your opinion or experience with this?  Which did you or would you prefer for your kids or kids you will have?

   This year I have four of my children in school, and while some of you might think that means some free time for me, you would be so wrong! I spent most of my day in the car, driving, dropping off, loading and unloading kids and babies, driving some more and dropping off again, then driving again for more picking up, and finally driving D to work after school since he had his cello and couldn’t take the bus. So all in all I am facing a whole school year in the car, and I’m not very excited about it. It’s hard trying to juggle naptimes in between all of the dropping off and picking up, but I will see what I can work out for the sake of my sanity and the two little ones I still have at home with me. M was pretty sad when we dropped Noah off, then later Haven, and I felt bad for him losing his buddies during the day. He loves G but he has more fun playing with Haven and Noah since they’re older. It’s all about the big kids right now it seems.

I am hoping to find another Mom that might be interested in car-pooling since I feel exausted at the thought of having to do this crazy routine everyday for the next year. It’s too hard on G and M, their day is spent riding in the car and they need time to play and be little kids. I know I’ll figure it out, I’m just feeling a little overwhelmed totday since this has been a very busy few weeks trying to make sure we were all ready for this day, and we finally made it! Each of the kids had a good day today, and N and H love their teachers and are so excited to go back tomorrow. Although H took a page out of Lor’s book and was shocked when I told her she was going back tomorrow, and each day after that during the week. She was so surprised! She thought it was just for today and that would be it, forever. I thought I had explained it to her, but maybe not as well as I thought. She’s so funny.

D has his Chamber Youth Orchestra auditions tomorrow, which is merely a formality so that they can determine the chair order, so he is looking forward to that. He’s been playing in the Chamber Orchestra for two years now and is really enjoying it. He’s been playing the cello for five years now and is really good, and I mean that in a totally un-biased Mom sort of way, really! C is excited she got the best science teacher, not the stinky one, and she is thrilled her friends are in almost all of her classes with her. She is still playing violin, and is getting better all of the time.

After our day today I’m too tired to think about what to make for supper, so I just might wimp out and order pizza. Either that or pass out quietly in some corner and take a nap. They both sound good, but I had better make sure there’s some dinner on the table or there won’t be a minutes peace, these kids are hungry! And please know that I realize there are lots of Mom’s that do all of this, and more. I promise, I don’t think my life is harder than anyone elses and I don’t mean to sound like I’m whining, in fact I truly feel more blessed than I can tell you. Life is good and has been very good to me, and I’m so happy my kids are happy, and it was a very good day! I love my little family, and I’m so glad we’re all in it together! I’m just tired of driving my life away.

    Today was Dylan’s first day of work at Sumida’s Fruit Stand. Originally the plan was for him to work there in the Summer, but his name was too far down the list (it was a long list) and there were no openings until now, so he had to wait. But he got the call at the beginning of the week that today was his first day, so off he went. He generally works the till, and was already quoting me the prices of almost all of the produce available there after he got home tonight. After hearing some of the prices I am definitely going to be a frequent customer since we eat a lot of fruits and veggies at our house and I can’t pass up the super low prices there, especially when compared to the grocery stores. In the beginning I was against him working during the school year, but I have since found out that the few days a week he would work that he can bring his homework with him and get it all done while he’s there, so I’m relenting for now. And Mr. Sumida is a very flexible boss, and the kids get to make their own schedules so we will see how it goes.

   Dylan works with several of his friends, and they all have a good time and like Mr. Sumida(pictured above) a lot. I’m especially glad he has a really great boss for his first job since sucky bosses ruin the whole thing. Sadly I know this from experience. Mammy went with me to pick him up today, and she ended up getting some peaches and two huge tomatoes, which she then left them at my house and I’m not sure if she meant to or not. Mammy? It was fun to see Dylan working, and he is loving the fact that he’s earning some money. And now that he’s working there, even after this season ends, he will be able to start this same job right away next Summer, he won’t have to wait for an opening so he’s set. So if you happen to be driving down Fruit Way, stop in at Sumida’s and you will probably be helped by a very handsome young man with the best looking smile this side of the hemisphere! Seriously, it drives the girls wild. I know this because they keep calling our house. Will the giggling ever stop?

I was at WalMart getting some Back-To-School stuff for the kids when we heard some thunder loudly rumbling as we were getting ready to head to the checkout. I later found out that lightning had struck right at the base of the mountain just over from the store, and a fire had immediately started. As soon as we came out into the parking lot we could see it clearly, with the huge flames all along the outer edges as it moved outward. The smoke was really thick and dark too. But there were a bunch of planes and helicopters flying above it and it seemed to be under control. About a half an hour after I got home the power went out so we went outside to entertain the kids for a bit. We then noticed large pieces of ash falling from the sky every so often, and the smoke was thicker and blacker than ever from that direction and blowing right over us, the sky was filled with it. Craig and I decided to pile the kids into the car and we drove over towards the area so that Craig could get a look at what the fire was like.

In the hour since I had last seen it, it had grown about 12 times in size, was all the way to the mouth of the canyon, it had jumped a road by the golf course and was coming dangerously close to several homes on the bench, and ended up burning well over 250 acres. It was HUGE, I couldn’t believe how big and bad it had gotten. And it seemed like EVERYONE in town was either in their car or on their lawn looking at this massive fire, really! It was such a scary and amazing spectacle, no one could stay away. I have to say it was a pretty impressive sight, and we were hoping no one got hurt or lost their home in it, it was still burning like crazy, and the flames were just incredible. The canyon was closed because the fire had gone so far over that way it looked like it was already in the canyon when we saw it.

There were three helicopters with the water baskets flying back and forth, filling and dumping the water as fast as they could over the fire, and several planes flying over spotting for the people on the ground and letting them know where the worst of it was. While we were sitting there we saw trees engulfed in mere seconds by the fire as it traveled north, and you could see some of the flames were towering above the homes in the area as they burned close by. So far no homes have been lost, and they think they have it under control, but they also said there are tons of hot spots still on the mountain, and it could jump right back to a raging inferno at any time, so we hope it dies down. Quite a bit of excitement, and definitley something we won’t be forgetting any time soon.

   In the course of having my children I have had several different doctors, and in the end I discovered how much I liked and preferred having an OB-GYN for prenatal care and stuff. I still like the convenience of my Family Practice doctor for our family, but I wouldn’t trade in my OB-GYN for all the money in the world. I have also had a bad experience with a female Dr. and didn’t find it to be better than the male Dr’s I’ve had before. In fact I have found from my own experiences that the male Doctors I’ve had tended to have a more sympathetic attitude towards pregnancy, while the women tended to have a “buck up and suck it up, I did this standing on my head all 9 months and so can you” attitude (I know not all women doctors are this way, this is purely from my own experience, and not true of all of them).

   I don’t like being compared since each pregnancy of mine has been different and some a lot easier than others, and I like my doctor to listen to me since I know myself how each pregnancy and labor has been before, and I can tell him if something feels off or wrong. So for me it’s: OB-GYN for me, Family Practice for rest of us, Male, and my doctors (Family and OB) have to be able to listen and be sympathetic, I can’t stand brusque and impatient. If I’m there, I don’t want to be made to feel like I’m imposing, I’m the one paying for their time! And for you?

*(I just wanted to note that there is only one Pediatrician in town, and appointments are backed up for over a month, so I have our family practice doctor instead since there are 7 doctors in the clinic so I can be seen ANYTIME by any of them. Also they have a cell phone they use for on-call, so when I call it I get the doctor actually answers it himslef, right then and he can answer my question instantly. Small towns have some drawbacks and some perks.)

-Which kind of doctor do you prefer for your prenatal care and deliveries?

-Do you have a Family doctor or a Pediatrician?

-Male or Female doctor preference?

-What is a must in you bedside manner preferences?

   Today we drove to Idaho where our nephew had just returned from his mission from Puerto Rico. We thoroughly enjoyed hearing him speak in church today all about his time served there, and M and G were pretty good and only a little restless, so I got to hear most of it. He gave such a great talk! We were also treated to an incredible musical number given by our niece (the Elders younger sister) J, singing “In The Hollow Of Thy Hand” which was absolutely beautiful, she did a tremendous job! We were able to stay and visit for a little while afterwards, and we really enjoyed ourselves and wished we could have stayed longer. I was able to meet two of Jeri’s sisters and her Mom(I actually met her Mom right after Craig and I were married, but I didn’t remember) and their really cute kids (they were REALLY cute!), and they were both so nice, I was so happy I was able to meet them, put names to faces and get to know them a little too.

We only had the four little ones with us, and they had way too much fun playing with all of the cousins. It was madness down in the play room, but the fun kind of madness where you’re just so happy to see other kids and cousins you have to play your little heart out, and they did! The drive was long, but worth it, and the kids just watched DVD’s on the way there and on the way home so it wasn’t too bad, and they were pretty good considering how much time they spent sitting in their carseats today. We had such a nice time today, it has me all ready for the next family gathering this Labor Day. This time we will have just about everyone there, and that means even MORE fun, if that’s possible! So anyways, welcome home Elder, we are so proud of you for returning home with Honor, and it was really great to see you and everyone else today!

   I went to my Dr.’s new place of practice today, and was it ever beautiful! My OB-GYN used to be located here in town but decided to make the move to this fantastic practice since he needed some partners to help with his huge patient load as well as give him time to actually see his family. His practice here in town was the busiest, and by the time I had delivered G the appointments were backed up for months. He was swamped with no one else to help ease the overload so I can see why he moved. The building is really beautiful, and the inside is even better. It’s huge inside, with a gigantic waiting room filled with comfy chairs and sofas, a fireplace, a childrens playroom, and there’s even a TV room with three plasma screen TV’s and more sofas and chairs to lounge in. The exam rooms were really nice too, and the one I was in had an ultrasound machine right next to the exam table (I think they said they have one in each room).

The nurses were lovely and I can understand why so many people I know travel down there for their care. I was only going in for my yearly exam, and Eliece and I both had appointments for the same day and time, so we went together. Eliece and I were each given one of those vibrating black discs to signal our turn, and it wasn’t long before mine lit up and began to vibrate, and I was escorted to one of the exam rooms. I already think my Dr. is fantastic, and I think this move is even better since he has the newest technology at his disposal now, but I would still go to him for my care regardless since he has the best bedside manner as well as being extremely professional. It’s been over a year since I saw him last and he still remembered who I was and my delivery with G, which by the way was heavenly as well as a piece of cake! But that had more to do with my amazing nurse Becky and the epidural. Heidi, you know what I’m talking about! Anyways, I had a really fun drive there and back with Eliece, especially since I haven’t really had a chance to see her in a while. Anyways, if you want to see what I’m oohing and ahhing about then check out www.colwc.com and you can see for yourself. Who knew that a doctors clinic could be that beautiful. And thankyou Eliece, I’m so glad I got to see you today!

   This Labor Day will mark our fourth year in this house, and I can’t believe the changes to and in our house since then. When we moved in Haven was just barely one and only walking for a few months. Here we are four years later and two more babies later and G is right where H was then. We have really enjoyed living here in this house, and we are especially enjoying the changes we have been able to make. When we bought the house it was in need of a serious update, and the kitchen was the worst of it with it’s homemade cabinets and green shag carpet (shag carpet in the kitchen with kids and food? Not a good combination!). So to re-cap, in the four years we’ve been here we have:

-Completely renovated, reconfigured and updated the kitchen adding all new cabinets and counters, new flooring and paint.

-Sealed the doorway to our room from the living room leaving only one door to our room from the hallway.

-Carpeted the entire basement and the bedrooms in the basement too.

-Built a beautiful cedar fence that gives us a great yard and courtyard for the kids to play in and stay safe.

-Moved the fridge and added cabinets to where it now sits, fixed the pantry so you can get to it now, and added a localized computer desk in the kitchen area.

-Put in a new bathtub, sink top, new flooring, and updated the bathroom.

-Removed the weird unusable second kitchen stuff and made another bedroom in the basement (it really was wierd).

-Tore down more lathe and plaster and paneling, and ripped up more disgusting old shag carpet than anyone would care to think about.

Not to mention the smaller scale projects we have done that were only a day or two of work compared to the weeks it took to finish some of the others. We still have a few projects left such as re-painting the living room, painting the kitchen and trim, tearing down the wallpaper in Havens room so we can paint the walls and put in new carpet, mount the hardware in the bathroom, paint the blue room in the basement and lay new carpet so C can have her own room, and re-paint C’s old room so D can be rid of the pink and green color scheme. These aren’t going to be as hard, and we can probably get most of them done before the end of the year. And Craig will most likely have finished his Masters degree before Christmas so that’s going to be even better, so we are looking forward to more free time for family activities. And just think, we will have the entire house done in time next year to put it on the market  to sell! Yep, we will fix it up and we probably won’t get to enjoy too much of our own work. Oh well, it will all be worth it in the end!

   About two years ago Korby and Heidi and I met at one of the local indoor playground/softplay at the skating rink and let the kids have a bit of fun running around. After we were done Korby had all of her kids use the hand sanitzer gel that was there in a dispenser near the entrance, and I was going to have mine do the same but ended up getting distracted (hey, it happens!) and just loaded my kids into the car and went home. The next day 3 of my kids came down with Strep throat, and so did Livy (the Dr. said it can develop in less than 24 hours time), but none of Korby’s kids had so much as the sniffles. We realized it had probably been picked up at the playland (which had been packed with kids) and Korby was the only one to use the sanitizer on her kids hands, so she was spared.

   So from that day on I have gotten a little fanatical about Germ-X and I carry small bottles on my person at all times. I also carry travel packs of antibacterial wipes, and I cannot tell you how often they have saved me. No matter what I always wipe down the front seat section and handle of a shopping cart before using it or putting children in it, any high chair in a restaurant, the table and benches in a fast food place, any handles and stuff in public bathrooms, or even my kids hands and faces if I need to, they just give me a little bit more peace of mind.

   I’m not a germ freak, I just know that in public places, especially if we’re going to be eating, germs are more likely to go from the hands to the mouth and I don’t need any extra illnesses brought home, they bring enough from school. And this year I have 4 going to school, so it will be interesting to see how much sickness I can keep at bay. So my absolute must haves for an outing are as follows:

-small bottle of Germ-X in my purse to sanitze hands before eating(at a playland when they run off to play in between eating I have my kids rub this on their hands everytime they come back to the table to eat, befrore they pick up their food)

-travel pack of antibacterial wipes in my purse to clean any seating or table area, shopping carts, public highchairs, or wipe hands and faces if needed

-travel pack of kleenex in my purse for runny noses, I can’t handle the booger face especially in public

-a canister of baby wipes in my car for just about any job/emergency you can name and I mean ANY, from throwing up to spilled food or drinks

   The winter of 2004 was a really bad one for us with a TON of illness at our house, and it didn’t let up until Summer. So last winter I made a few changes and we had a huge decrease in the number of visits to the Dr. and E.R. and it was a lot easier for everyone. One of the changes I made was that as soon as each child arrived home from school they removed their shoes at the back door, used Germ-X on their hands, and sometimes I had them change ther shirts and wash their faces. It really helped a lot and made for a much nicer winter season and a lot less missed school and church. So I’m ready for this next winter season, and I hope to keep everyone as healthy as possible!

   You know how in so many of those episodes on shows like the Brady Bunch when the parents went away, and for some reason or another the kids or “inept husband” were left to do a load of laundry? And everytime, without fail, they all didn’t know how much detergent to put in so they pour in the whole box, and shortly thereafter the room is filled with soap suds and hilarity ensues. Well, on Sunday I realize we are out of dishwasher detergent, and we have a whole load of dirty dishes, and I’m rushing to get ready for church. So I do what I have done in the past in a similar moment of desperation, and poured a smattering of liquid dish soap on top of the dishes in the top and bottom racks, close the dishwasher door, and turn it on. I have since re-thought my idea of what “a smattering” is.

   I returned to my room to continue getting dressed and was gone for about 10 minutes when Ciel comes running in to tell me that there’s soapy foam pouring out onto the floor in the kitchen. Sure enough, there were soap suds gushing out of the bottom seal of the front door of the dishwasher, and it was in a huge mass on the kitchen floor heading straight for the living room carpet. Luckily I had a bunch of towels nearby, so disaster was averted, but we all had a very big laugh about my own Cindy Brady moment, and I made a mental note to use a LOT less liquid soap next time I’m in a pinch. I mean really, you would think it would have been one of my kids, but no, it was ALL ME. Yep, I suck as a dishwasher and have the rationing skills of a 5-year-old child star from a 1970’s TV show. Well, the good news is at least I didn’t wait to start it right before we left for Church. Then maybe some hilarity would have ensued. Or at least I would have had a better story.