Dance Lessons

For the past few months Eleanor and Quincy have been taking dance lessons through Hale Center Theater. They seem to really like it. Our little ballerinas?





(p.s. I love the panty lines visible through their tights.... hahahaha!)

That Shouldn't Happen When You're In Time Out!

When I got home from work the other day Brandon told me to go look at the coin on top of the bookshelf up in our living room. Curious, I went upstairs and to my surprise found this.... Apparently while in time out, Quincy had decided to find out what happens when she puts a penny between the outlet and her night light while it is plugged into the socket.... We're lucky she didn't get shocked real good and that the house didn't burn down!

Busy Holidays

So I know that the holidays are especially busy for everyone. At the hospital we usually about double our surgical schedule census for the 6 weeks between Thanksgiving and the end of the year. This year, in spite of the poor economy, is no different. It is really busy, but it is a blessing because it is good job security, but it leaves me feeling pretty exhausting by the end of my shift and then I feel guilty going home to 3 children and husband (when we are not passing in the doorway of coming and going) too tired to do much of anything. I am glad that I am not hosting any Christmas parties though.... My house it a wreck and I'm a terrible hostess anyway-- I'm just glad not to have that added stress. I'll let the people who LIKE doing that sort of thing take care of it.

sorry to pass the buck!

Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving at my parent's house this year. Yeah- 13 adults and 10 children under 10. :) It was a rip roaring PARTY! We had yummy food, had family pictures taken, played games together, tended children, met with friends, and generally just had a good time together (some of the boys even got in a rousing game of flag football on Thursday morning!) The day before Thanksgiving of course my kids all started coughing.... great. Benjamin had been chewing on everything the past few weeks and on Thanksgiving morning he had a tooth that had broken through! Hooray! After his nap that afternoon I went to show off his tooth and found that the SECOND one had broken through! Two teeth in one day! What a boy!

"I don't like his suit"

Yesterday at church I tried to take Quincy to her primary class but she would not go into the classroom. I looked into the room (of course we were late, so everyone was already sitting down) and found out that the regular teacher was not there but the parents of one of the kids in the class was substituting. After trying to convince Quincy to go into her class for a few minutes I finally gave up and she came to class with Brandon and I and then agreed to go to sharing time... (I found out later that although she went to sharing time she refused to sit anywhere near the substitute teachers.... especially the man.) When we got home I asked Quincy:

"Quincy, why didn't you want to go to your class today?"
'Because Timmy's dad was being the teacher and I don't like him'
"Why don't you like Timmy's daddy?"
'I don't like his suit'
"You don't like his suit?"
'Yes'
"Anything else?"
'I don't like the way he talks either'
"The way he talks? How does he talk?"
'He just talks, and I don't like it.'
"Okay, does he scare you?"
'No. I just don't like his suit and the way he talks'
"Does he make you nervous?"
'Yeah'
"Oh, okay. Thanks for talking to me."

Hmmm..... My daughter is apparently making decisions based on the suit a man is wearing.... should I be concerned?

The Next Dancing Sensation

We shared this on facebook a few weeks ago, but still get a kick out of it. Who says white boys can't dance?!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone! I am a terrible decorator so I didn't have a single Halloween decoration up. Quincy said she wanted to be a fairy princess and Eleanor wanted to be a Cinderella. I made a Cinderella dress for Eleanor, but when I tried it on her it was obvious that she would need to wait about 2 years to grow into it (yeah for my skills as a seamstress!) She ended up being a clown. A very cute clown I might add. Benjamin was a little frog. He was going to be Tigger, but grew out of his costume about 2 weeks before Halloween. I was Miss Piggy and Brandon was a surgeon (I know, a cop-out because all the stuff needed was easily obtainable through my workplace!) We had a great ward Halloween party that I was supervising as the Ward Activity Committee Chairperson. Lots of ward members brought chili for the chili cook-off and our youth put together a fun little kids carnival activity.

These pictures were taken at the Timpview 8th Ward Halloween party (which was MUCH better decorated that our own!) My parents are good sports to dress up!

Jack-O-Lanterns

We put off carving our pumpkins until just a few days before Halloween so that we had "fresh" looking pumpkin faces on our porch. The girls had a great time cleaning out and carving their pumpkins with their cousin Amber at her house in Springville. After carving pumpkins we picked the concord grapes from the vines to use to make grape juice. So yummy! We love fall!

Jeannine Stuy

Brandon worked with a wonderful woman named Jeannine Stuy at the grade school for many years and they are still friends. She celebrated her 50th birthday this week and had a fabulous party. We were all very happy to be able to see her again, it had been awhile!

Happy Birthday Eleanor!

Our sweet Eleanor has finally turned 3 (after much anticipation!) We had a fun party with family at the house. She is very blessed to have so many people who love her! We asked her what she would like for a birthday. All she would say consistently was a brown cake, with brown frosting, and lots of candles... so yes, she is only 3, but she has lots of candles (made into the shape of a 3, which you can't see in the pictures) on her cake. In addition, she got her very own purple bike.

Happy Birthday Princess!

New photos of the family

Thank you to my sister, Erica for taking these pictures. She is amazing for being able to get such good shots of uncooperative children! I was pleased with the way they turned out!

Bridal Veil Falls

The other day we took a drive up Provo Canyon and Brandon, Quincy, and Eleanor hiked up to the falls. I currently have the unpleasant experience of tendonitis in my right foot so I had to stay at the bottom with Benjamin. They had a good time, without any major incidents.... but mostly it was a good photo op.... I love the colors in the canyon right now!

Apples

Many of you are aware that Quincy and Eleanor both love apples. Quincy will tell you her favorite food is "apples and cheese". It is not uncommon for us to go through about 6 pounds of apples per week, and neither of the girls are very picky about the kind of apple-- they just love apples. I can't really complain either-- kids choosing healthy apples over junk food-- I'm all for it! However, because we don't restrict apple eating to just the kitchen I have the unfortunate experience of finding apple cores in just about every room of the house.... literally! The other evening I found these apple cores downstairs in our living room... If you are not able to see them very well I will describe them..... there is literally NO apple fruit left on these cores. the only thing left is the hard crusts that hold the seeds. At first I thought that maybe ants had gotten to the cores and "finished off" what Quincy and Eleanor had not eaten... but these were apples that they had gotten out of the refrigerator not 3 hours earlier and I don't think we have THAT many ants in our house! I guess I should clarify... Eleanor eats apples, and Quincy devours apples. Apparently one of these apples belonged to each girl and after Eleanor had her fill, Quincy was able to polish it off..... I'm impressed! Are you?!

Blessed!

My friend Kristy posted this on her blog and I loved it... thought I would share-- a little long, but well worth it!

How do you think of your children?

On any given day, would you say your children are a blessing or a burden? Here is a challenge to you…

How are you?”…“How is the baby?”…“How are your kids?”… We all hear these questions every day. Do you know a mom who always answers something like this: “Well, I haven’t killed my 2-year-old yet, so I guess that’s good.” Or, “I’m just exhausted,” or, “Things are absolutely crazy – I am so stressed out!” Maybe that frazzled, haggard, bewildered mommy is someone you know. Maybe it’s you. I know I’ve been there.

Here is my question to you today… are we bearing our blessings as burdens? Those babies that we dreamt of and prayed for, that we had so much fun choosing names for, that we counted the days to meet… are they burdens to us now? Those homes that we were ecstatic to move into… are they burdens now? That husband that we couldn’t live without, that we picked out the wedding dress for, that we cried and ached and waited by the phone for… is he a burden now? That job you needed, you wanted and prayed for, that provides food and clothing for your family… is it a burden now?

Sometimes it seems to me like a mantle we as moms must carry. We must be tired, we must be stressed out; we must be harried and frazzled, we must be lucky just to make it through the day. Are we bearing our blessings as burdens? Are we tired? Absolutely. As moms, we know about the 2 a.m. feedings, the nightmares, the wet beds, the midnight curfews. Do things get a little stressful between PTA meetings, dance class, the T-ball game, and dinner on the table at 6? Sure they do. Are husbands always a joy when they get home from work? No way. Is scrubbing the potty, doing the laundry, and cleaning the high chair tray the greatest thrill we’ve ever known? Of course not.

So how do look past the burdens and see the blessings of our families and our homes? Do you know any women who would give anything to have a baby to nurse at 2 a.m.? Anyone who would love to have those clothes we are sick of washing, or that house we just can’t keep clean. Do you know any women whose husbands aren’t coming home?

I challenge you to joy, to smile, to persevere. I challenge you to bear your burdens as blessings and watch as they multiply. And the next time someone asks you how you are, throw off that identity of stressed out, frazzled mommy, find your smile and answer, “I am blessed!”

I should have waited for help

I should have waited for help, I had no idea what I was in for. You just stick it in and wait-- or that is what I thought.

It all started a few day ago when Valynn and I started asking each other, “When was the last time you changed a poopy diaper for Benjamin?” When we started to do the math, we came up with it being about a week. So we started to watch and wait. With each pasing day I was starting to get more and more concerned. The kid is going to explode!-- I kept thinking to myself.

I knew we had a Dr. appointment coming up so I could ask about it. To the best of our remembering, it had been about a week and a half since his last bowel movement by the time we went to the Dr. I brought up the topic, the Dr. asked me some questions, and the boy answered most of them-- he was happy and his tummy wasn’t rock hard full of poop. The poor kid got a…. well, rectal exam. Poor guy, if I had only know that would have happened I wouldn’t have brought it up. Okay, yes I would have. I was worried. I was glad something was happening. The Dr. had some good news after pulling his little finger out of my son's bum. He said, “Well, there’s no hard dry poop in there,” as he showed me the trace of poop on his glove, “and his vault isn’t full either so he must just do a really good job of using all the food he gets.” The Dr. and I discussed a few options came to the conclusion that we would use a suppository.

Ok… they didn’t cover suppositories in the classes you take before you have babies. I know what they are. I grew up in a house with a dad that worked in the endo lab (you know the cameras down you throat and up your butt). Anyway, I guess I didn’t ask enough questions about them. The Dr. told me to use a little petroleum gel to lube it up, and that I might need to hold his legs together to keep it in, then it would dissolve and he should poop in the next couple of hours. The Dr. warned me it might be a big one. He even told me to expect a blow out. “If nothing happens, come back in and we will investigate a little more.”

But that is not what happened. And where my story begins.

I got some suppositories, the ones for little people-- but we were busy, and the doctor didn’t make it sound like we needed to hurry and do it, so when we finally got the girls to bed and the boy was crashing hard, Valynn and I decided we would do it the next day. Valynn had to go to work in the morning and the boy and I were still sleeping, so it didn’t happen before she left. When I woke up, I checked to see if he had pooed in the night, and still nothing. So, I figured it was time. It didn’t sound hard-- you just stick it in, right? So, I got ready for this fun new adventure: With petroleum gel on my finger, I pulled out of the little tub what looked like to me a birthday cake candle with no wick. I have to admit, I didn’t know how this was going to help much at all, but that’s the magic of medicine.

I didn’t think he would really even notice this thing go in-- so I lubed up the suppository and with my free hand tried to wrangle his legs and feet so I could get at my target. He is a very wiggly kid! Without being too graphic, it went in. We took it nice and slow and at first he didn’t seem to mind what was going on at all, and it was done. Tadah! As I tried to then get his legs down while keeping them together that candle wax thing shot out of him like a rocket. Not kidding! It was in, then just like that, it was out! A little shocked, and not happy about it, but not put off to much-- I mean it went in easy enough… I will just put it back in! This time it was not as un-noticed by my little friend and he squirmed and made some funny faces. How could blame him? This time I held it in for a few seconds to make sure it would stay and then, moving with some urgency, I moved his legs down and together. I even went to squeeze his bum cheeks together and as I looked down to admire my work… there that damn little thing sat-- right there on the changing table like I had never put it in. Not happy, either of us, we tried it again-- him crying and me close to it!

This is a bum we are talking about… a cute little one, yes, but it is a bum! Hence to say, it was starting to smell quite badly. Benjamin had a pooing problem, not a farting problem, and as the week and a half had passed, his farts had gotten stinker and stinker.

As I wemt to put in the suppository for what I was going to make sure was the last time (even if I had to put my finger in the poor guy’s bum) he pooped and pooped and pooped: On me, on him, and all over the changing table. And then, he decided that he couldn’t do one with out the other, so he peed all over everything.

As I sat there, poop in hand, thinking back to the doctor’s office, thinking about where this had all gone wrong, and how this had gone nothing like the way it was supposed to, I then realized: I should have waited for help.

In the past few years I have had the experience of seeing three of my dear friends lose one of their parents. The first was my next door neighbor Lizzi Whitehead, Calvin Whitehead's mom who suffered from heart problems. The second was Michele Pereira, Melissa Peterson's mom, who died July 18, 2008 in a very sad accident. The third was Dan Bishop, Shannon Adams' dad was passed away earlier today following a very sudden and serious health condition. Although I have been trained as a nurse to understand the grieving cycle, and taught how to be "helpful "in these situations it is different to experiencing death in the role of a health professional vs. a friend who knew and loved those who have died. I still don't know what to do to help my friends through these difficult times. Shannon, as the one who has most recently lost you loving dad, know that we are thinking about and praying for you and your family.

What a smiler!

Benjamin is such a good boy! He loves to grin and "talk" to everyone around him, gives open mouth kisses, and has learned to roll from side to side while he lies on his back, but still can't roll over from belly to back. Quincy and Eleanor are great older sisters-- love to give him kisses and hugs (to the point of me getting irritated... Benjamin seems to love the attention, though!)
I'm glad Brandon is so talented in photography! He took this picture of Benjamin, and in my opinion it looks as good as any of the professional ones we've had taken!

Quincy questions

In one session of Quincy and Brandon sitting at the dinner table together Quincy asked the following questions:

Why are we real?
Why is milk sticky?
Why are marshmallows sticky?
What makes simple sugar sticky?
What does 'connect' mean?
Why do we have busses?
What happens if we don't have garbage cans?
What happens if we don't have an oven?
Is that chicken mad?

I was glad Brandon was the one answering the questions, although at times his answers just seemed to generate more questions. I love having a 4 year old in the house.... life is NEVER boring!

The Garden

Before we began....




So, we decided to enlarge our garden plot this year to see if we could make it more productive.... it ended up being a bigger project than originally planned. We pulled up the sod and Brandon roto-tilled the area, but in the process ended up breaking sprinkler pipe in multiple places and nearly severing through our underground cable line! After many weekends of work (and plenty of time and money invested!) we ended up with a nice bordered garden plot that is twice the size of the original and we are finally starting to get some produce! We already have more zucchini than we can eat and I've picked about 4 jalapeno peppers.... sadly, our tomato plants seem to only be concerned with growing into trees instead of getting ripe fruit currently.... lots of green tomatoes (on our 11 tomato plants, but not a single one ready to eat yet!~~~ so much for fresh salsa!)


This is the garden currently.....

Happy Birthday Quincy!

Our Sweet Quincy is 4 years old! Its hard to believe that time has passed so quickly! She informed everyone on her birthday that she was now 4 and that she wanted a "bubble vacuum" (which, FYI, is not made by any toy maker with connections to the internet). She may not have been given a bubble vacuum, but that doesn't mean she wasn't spoiled rotten by her aunts and granparents! Between clothes, roller skates, toys, books, balloons, cake and icecream, party hats, "fireworks", and everything else-- I hope she realizes how very blessed she is! Thank you to all who came to her party! I think she was very happy with her birthday celebration!

Annual Cherry Hill visit

Every year, the weekend before the 24th of July the Haslam family (and friends) get together for a few days of swimming, camping, good food, and fun up at Cherry Hill Waterpark in Kaysville. We had a great time this year! Quincy and Eleanor especially liked the lazy river and the "dragon" waterslides. Quincy attempted the "Cardiac Canyon" waterslide but decided it was "NOT fun!" and she would do it again "Maybe when I am 7." Benjamin even got in the water a few times!

I was surprised how well we avoided severe sunburns (as we were there in 100 degree weather both days!) and also how comfortable and independent Quincy and Eleanor became in the water while wearing lifejackets. We had lots of fun!

Wood Badge

Brandon spent all of last week at the BSA Wood Badge training camp. It sounds like it was a very rewarding experience!

I'm cute!

Quicy and Eleanor discovered the "dress up/Halloween" box. On any given day we'll have various costume items being worn around the house.

What good sharers!

Apparently ALL the "babies" wanted to have a turn in the bouncy chair.

Poor Benjamin!

Aren't older sisters great?! I left the room for 2 minutes and this is what I found when I came back.

Fun at Farm Country

So, we braved the rainy weather and went to "The Barn". Always a good activity for little girls.