Mortality check

It's so humbling to think how quickly our lives could be over. Last night Ray had class. We are both so tired of his class and so ready for it to be over. He has one more class, Thursday night. Last night he told me he would probably tell his teacher he wouldn't be going the last day. After the class last night his teacher was driving home (about an hour away from here) and when he was just south of his town going north a car coming south attempted to pass another car going south and hit him head on. Both drivers died on the scene. When Ray told me today what had happened I felt myself go pale. His professor was a young man with a young wife and two small children. I really feel for that family. I could not imagine living without Ray.

Babies! Babies! Babies!

Don't worry I am not announcing anything. We are still waiting until after our cruise this fall to then think about expanding our family another little person. It's just funny how everyone seems to get pregnant at the same time. The first wave is almost ready to deliver. There was 4 people in our ward all due within 2 months time period. Two have had their babies that I know of and a third should have. And almost everyone is having a girl. Cher, I guess you are on in the first wave since you are due soon too. Well, we just got word that the second wave has begun. Someone called us last night to announce their expectancy. So I know the pressure will intensify for us. We are already getting it at church, people wondering when we will be next. No worry though. I think waiting another 6 months will be fine and then maybe we will have an announcement. Congratulations to all who have or will be having a new bundle of joy in the near future.

bad Luck Comes in 3s

At least that's what my mom always said. I believe it to be true sometimes. I have posted in previous posts about replacing our washer machine and printer just in the last few weeks, and the VCR is just barely holding on. I don't really think I have bad luck with electronics, they are just wearing out. Tiffany will appreciate this next delimma with a machine, my vacuum cleaner. Something has happened to the roller and now when we turn it on it just blows out of the machine. I found the receipt and it has only been 6 months. I looked it up on line and it is supposed to have a 1 year warranty. Also I noticed the part we need is almost a third of the price of the vacuum brand new. So my husband calls them up and tells them what is wrong. THAT IS NOT COVERED UNDER THEIR WARRANTY. One thing that really gets me is companies that do not stand behind their products. The agree to pay for shipping fees. Wahoo! (sarcasm.) What to do? Take them up on that or get a new vacuum? I am ranting and raving in the background on how I am going to blog about their poor customer service plus tell all the moms around here. I tell my husband that I rather just get a new vacuum since it was only 6 months and that is ridiculous. My husband passes that on to the customer service (a joke of a title) representative and then ask for a manager. The guy comes back on line and says that the manager is busy with another call (wonder why) and that they will go ahead and send us a new part free of charge but we must understand this is a one time thing. Yeah, it's a one time thing because if this one only last 6 months I will be buying a different brand anyway. Now I have to wait 7-10 business days before I can vacuum my house again.

The Lost Sea

The Lost Sea was well worth the drive to see even though some parts really terrorized me, like walking across a small bridge way up in the air over open chambers and getting in a small boat with a baby. Next time we are going when all the children can walk on their own and don't need too much help.

This is called the bear claw and one of the formations we were allowed to touch.

These are anthodites, aka cave flowers, and are very rare. In fact, 50% of the world's known anthodites are in the Lost Sea caverns. This picture and these last two are from my post cards since mine didn't turn out.

Yes, the fish are really that large. They are not natural in the cave. They were brought in for an experience and were tagged to see if any got out to find out where the water would go once outside the cave. None have turned up outside of the cave so they still don't know. They lose most of their eye sight and their color (they are rainbow trout) from the darkness. They are feed by the tour guides and every five years more are brought in because they end up mistaking their eggs for food since the eggs end up floating instead of sticking to the clay bottom.

The cave has a rich history. It was used by Native Americans and later the confederate army. There is a burned "1863" on the wall and they had it analyzed and found out it was authentic. A saloon bought the cave back in the 20s I think he said and ran a cavern down there (hence the moonshine still) but it quickly shut down because people can drink twice the amount under ground then what they would be able to tolerate up top and so when they went to climb the original 187 steep steps out they would often pass out and fall down the steps and get hurt. The first tours started up just before the great depression. For 10 cents a person could go anywhere in the cave unguided. Some of the old trail and steps could be spotted and they were dangerously close to some scary stuff.

It also have a hole (tried to get the picture) that leads to the devil it is rumored. They do not know where it ends up because it is the size of a softball and a bottom cannot be seen. I think they should just drop down a camera on a string.

The Lost Sea part of the cave was not discovered until 1912. During a drought a 11-12 year old boy went into the cave and was exploring. He crawled through a tiny 30 inch diameter hole for like 100 feet or so and discovered the hidden lake. He had a little tiny lantern that didn't give out much light. He tried to tell his father about it but he didn't believe him for a month and then when he finally did and went to look the hole was again covered up because the drought had ended. Fifty years later it was discovered and written about in the paper. The guy came forward and claimed he had found it once before and they believed him and got credit for the find and got to name it. He chose the "Lost Sea." The hole was made bigger and a tunnel created (part of the original hole is still there) and the guy got to be the first to ride a boat across the lake.

Anyway, some after thought. Why is it that tour guides are always full of lame jokes? Do they go to school for that? We might miss some interesting facts thinking they are jokes.

Also when camping find ground that doesn't slope at all when having a toddler. Also check out where the water and bathrooms are located or how many there are. Our campground was okay but they only had small unshaded spots for tent camping and so we chose to camp in the woods that gave us a little more shade but not a lot of places T-man could walk. Also the camp ground only had one bathroom near the entrance and no water spouts excepts those used by the hooked up RVs and the ones in the bathroom.

She-girl's Take

(written in the view of my 3 year old daughter)
I'll skip the driving part since that is the boring part although I did get to watch a lot of movies. I liked Aunt Patty's house. They had a cute little puppy who liked to lick us. Aunt Patty played with bubbles with me and gave me some good snacks. They also have a huge staircase and my favorite thing was to lead my little brother over to it and get him climbing and see my mommy and daddy come running to get him off. I would laugh and so would little brother and he once tried to run from mommy and fell down the stair before she could get there but he was okay.

When we got to the camp I wanted to help set up the tent. I got to help put the poles together and hand them to daddy. It was way cool to see the tent going up. I also tried to help with the fire but I had to be really careful because it is very hot.

The cave was pretty cool. I liked walking around it but sometimes I would get scared and then daddy would come and pick me up. I held onto my little pink flashlight tightly and was able to point it at things. When our tour guide lost his flashlight in the lake he wanted to borrow mine, but no way. What if he lost mine? Next time don't drop yours in the lake. My favorite part though was this little table and chairs outside the sweet shop in the village. The sweet shop wasn't open so we didn't get ant sweets. I did get to pick out a bag of pretty shiny rocks from the shop.

Sometimes when I was playing outside my feet would get dirty. I would go in the tent, take off my shoes, and wipe them off. Mommy would ask what I was doing and I would say, "Feet dirty." Come on, Mom, couldn't you figure that out?

Mommy got the bubbles out that Aunt Patty got us. I wanted to blow the bubbles but I was getting soap every where and my bubbles weren't really working out. T-man tried to blow too and ended up getting a mouthful of soap. Mommy told me she needed to do it. I at first didn't want to let her do it but then I saw she could make lots of bubbles and T-man was having fun too. I ended up having a blast running after them and popping them.

Our last night there we had a hotdog roast. I watched daddy as he roasted our hotdogs. He was being funny and put three on a stick. The fire burnt through the stick and two of them dropped into the fire. He tried to get them out but they were very black and covered with ash. That's okay I don't like hotdogs that well anyway, in fact I have always refused to eat them although I have to have my own. I just ate my chips and so did T-man.

My favorite part though was when we roasted marshmallows. Daddy caught mine on fire and I got to blow it out but I didn't want to eat it after that. Mommy and Daddy put theirs with chocolate and graham crackers and called them samores. I ate my chocolate and graham crackers separately.

Tripping with T-man

(written in my son's view)
I have to admit I do not like to be in the car. The straps make it so I can't move around and I have to sit in one spot when I want to roam around, look out the windows, and push all the buttons in the car. I don't know what mom and dad were thinking making me ride for over 5 hours like that. They put on movies and although my sister liked that I just don't have the attention span to focus on a movie longer than about five minutes. So already being frustrated with being restrained I decided to let everyone know it and screamed and screamed until finally my mom and dad pulled over and got us out for lunch. My full belly started to feel heavy and so did my eyes and soon I was fast asleep much to the relief of my mom and dad.

After 6 hours of our adventure we stopped at a strange house and I met three strange people for the first time. Mom and dad said they were my dad's aunt, uncle, and cousin. They were very nice to us. They had some really cool steps outside that I wanted to go up and down until I fell off and smashed my head on the cement. Oh, the pain. Mom swooped me up and kissed me all better.

We slept all together in a strange room. Although I had mom and dad close I didn't have a good night. I thrashed and cried out a few times.

The next day we headed off in the van again. I was so tired of driving but I didn't fuss too much. I guess we are just going to stay in the car forever.

Finally we stopped in a wooded area off the freeway. Dad got out of the car and went into a little building. I wanted to go too and started to scream. Why do I still have to sit here? The car is not moving anymore. Dad came out and we drove around a little bit more following a strange lady on a lawn tractor. Finally we parked and we got out of the van. I was so excited to stretch my legs and run around. But something was wrong with the ground. I couldn't stand up straight and I kept falling over. I would try to walk and lose my balance. Well, I got mad and decided mom or dad better hold me and carry me around if they were going to make me stand on this ground that seemed to go up and down. Mommy wanted to help Daddy to put up a big cloth room like thing they called a tent but I wouldn't have it. They needed to hold me.

Finally I found a place that wasn't so bad to explore, the wood pile. There was sticks and caterpillars and rocks to examine and throw.

I sat in daddy's chair and ate a little hamburger they had got on the way to the wooded area. It was my first time eating a hamburger like that, on a bun.

Later that night we all went in the tent and we watched a movie although I wanted to push the buttons on the DVD player. It was getting cold so mommy got me in some warm pjs. I didn't want to go to sleep. It was getting dark and I could hear all kinds of strange noises. Mommy held me and rocked me until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.

The next day after breakfast we got in the van again. Come on, enough with the van already. But this time we weren't in it long at all. We got out in some mountains. There was a building we went inside and mommy and daddy talked to a lady and then handed over a plastic card they keep in their wallet. We then went into this yellow tunnel that went into the side of the mountain. Mommy and daddy took turns carrying me. I didn't fight too much because it was so dark and I couldn't walk very good when I did get down. It was dark and cool in there. After the yellow tunnel we went down a trail that was in a mountain. We saw some cool rock formations and then we got in a boat and went out on a lake under ground. Mommy was scared I would jump in because I was so excited especially when the big fish started jumping. Mom tried to get some pictures of the fish but couldn't since it was dark in there. Soon we left the darkness and went out to walk around an old village like area and sissy and I ran around and laughed and chased each other.

Back at camp it was very hot so we went for a drive and I feel asleep. When I woke up mommy got out some bubbles that Aunt Patty had given us. We had so much fun playing and popping the bubbles. Daddy had to hold me while I popped them.

The next day sissy and I sat in the car watching a movie while Daddy and mommy took everything down and put it in the van. I got tired of waiting and started screaming so mom got me out one last time. The ride home was so long but I took two good naps and only got mad once. I was so happy to get back home. I ran around the house and laughed and played with sissy. Next time I hope we go camping somewhere I can walk around better.

My 3-year olds Pictures

These are some of my pictures my 3-year old daughter took on her v-tech camera. Granted most of the ones she has taken are all dark or all light I think she does pretty good.

Crazy 8's

8 Things I’m passionate about

*My faith in God

*My family

*Being a loyal friend

*Scrapbooking

*Traveling

*Reading as much as I can

*Writing

*Becoming healthy

8 Things I want to do before I die

*Travel to Europe, Jerusalem, and all 50 states (I have about 20 to go)

*Publish a novel or a few

*Raise strong, healthy, and confident children

*Serve a mission with my husband

*See my grandchildren

*Be a better mother

*Finish all my projects

*Catch up on my scrapbooks

8 Things I often say

*"You're in time out."

*"Close the door."

*"Put that back."

*"I love you."

*"Be nice to your brother."

*"My beautiful boy."

*"My beautiful brown eyed girl."

*"Clean up your toys."

8 Things I've learned this past year

*I don't have to be perfect to be a good mother.

*I still need to work on being a good mother.

*I'm not crazy, and I am not alone.

*I fall inlove with my husband more and more each day.

*He hears me.

*My children need me.

*I now like shrimp.

*I depend on my husband more than I let on.

8 Things I must do each day to feel good

*brush my teeth

*brush my hair

*hug my kids

*kiss my husband

*exercise

*read the scriptures

*pray

*smile

8 Things that attract me to my best friends

*loyalty

*sense of humor

*honesty

*empathy

*willing to listen to me whine

*themselves

*forgiving

*light of Christ is in them

8 People I think should do Crazy 8's☺

*Tiffany (already did)

*Cher

*Rachel

*anyone else that wants too

Thank you, Tiffany, this was a cute little exercise and I hope you don't mind me borrowing it. It made me think.

Getting ready to go camping

This picture is actually from our last camping trip in Yellowstone in August 2007. But we are getting ready to go camping soon. I forget how much planning and packing is involved. Beside tents, sleeping bags, and clothes we have to pack food, something to eat on, things to cook with, matches, and so much more. I have a full page of lists so far of equipment, food, clothes for both the kids, and me and that is not including my husband's stuff. However stressful and however much work is involved I am actually very excited to go. It will be our first camping trip with just our family and we will be tent camping for the first time since after we got married and moved me across the country. I better not forget to pack my daughter's blanket; did that once, YIKES!!!

We are headed for Tennessee which is about 7-8 hours away. The first day we will drive up to Ray's aunt and uncle's house outside of Atlanta, Georgia and spend the night with them. Then we will continue on the next day up to Sweetwater, TN. We are staying in a campground we found online that has a play area for kids. Then the next day we will visit the Lost Sea, which is a lake in a cavern. I will definitely be posting and blogging about the trip so watch for that blog coming soon.

It's possessed

Some evil spirit has descended upon our family. It wakes us in the middle of the night. It appears suddenly without warning. It has taken possession of something in our home and will not let go. My husband and I were sound asleep in our bed when suddenly a noise startled us awake. I couldn't figure out what it was for several minutes. Then suddenly it dawned on me what that noise was, the VCR was rapidly fast forwarding or rewinding. I scrambled in the dark looking for the remote as my husband jumped out of bed to hit the power button. The night before I had set the VCR to record a program I was going to miss. The next morning I discovered that the VCR had been fast forwarding in the middle of the night. I checked the whole tape and the program I recorded was not on there. A few days later I again set the VCR to record a program that was on at the same time as another program. I decided to check it when it was supposed to be recording. (I had set the VCR and then shut the bedroom door to make sure no little fingers could push any buttons so I know no buttons had been pushed and the remote was put away.) I go in the room and the VCR is on but it is playing and not recording. I quickly shut it off so it would record. It hasn't done anything else as strange as that one night but it will suddenly be on when it hasn't been and sometimes it ejects the tape for no reason at all.

No Lunch for Mom

Saturday was our weekly lunch date with my inlaws. We decided on a local barbecue place. The kids were fine when we got there but then it took a while to get our food. My one year old began to get restless and then the crying and screaming began. At first my husband tried to soothe him while I tried to eat. The stares began. Little T-man would not be comforted. So after only 1 chicken tender and half a cornbread I took the little guy out to the van. As soon as I plopped him down in the driver seat so I could open the windows he was happy as a lark. He played with the steering wheel and laughed and smiled. So poor mommy never got to finish her lunch that day. It won't be the last time I am sure.

Bloody nose?

After getting my daughter settled in with her lunch at the dining room table I sat down to do some computer work. My son played with his toys on the floor. He likes to be by his sister so I was not surprised when he went in the dining room to play while she ate. A few moments later he started screaming. He cries every time he falls, or bumps his head, or his sister takes something from, or just because. I called to him to come to mommy. A few moments later he appeared around the corner and there was blood on his nose and cheek as if he smeared it. I noticed some on his arm to as I hurry to him exclaiming, "What happened?"

As I get to him I smell the unmistakable smell of ketchup. Yup, it's ketchup all over him. How did he get ketchup? Did his sister skirt him in the face with the ketchup bottle? Did she get in the fridge?

I gathered him up and carried him off to the bathroom to clean him up. Then I went to discover if there was more mess in the kitchen that I would have to clean up. There is my daughter sitting at the table eating her chicken nuggets with...KETCHUP. I forgot that is what I gave her for lunch. All I could determine was that she had tried to feed him some of her lunch.

Strawberry picking and jam making

Just about five miles from our house is a huge strawberry farm. From April to May each year they allow you to come out and pick your own strawberries. They give you a box and you just fill it up and pay for what you pick. They don't mind you eating while you go. It is so much fun. This year before General Conference on Saturday we headed out there and picked a boxful (about 10 pounds.) Sheila and Timmy had a ball picking and eating as they went. Once home I separated the berries into ones to eat, ones to freeze, and ones to make jam and then made a batch of freezer jam. It will be fun to eat them all year round.

The Printer Won

I just had a major fight with the printer and it won. It wanted to eat my paper and just kept eating it and eating it. While in the midst of the fight, I also had a fight with the packing tape. Of course the end got stuck to the end of the roll and then when I was trying to pull it off it split and shredded and I ended up throwing it across the room in frustration but all that did was make me have to get up and to get it. Really, what was I thinking? That it would magically unroll itself like toilet paper as it went flying through the air. But I was victorious over the packing tape and it finally bowed to my demands. But the printer was having none of it. Finally I have left it to its hungry appetite. It has been a good $20 soldier, printing thousands of sheets and labels. But now we must lay it down to rest. A new little soldier will be acquired tomorrow since I need it for my ebay business.

Play dates

When my daughter was younger she use to attend a play date group. But several members moved away and that broke it up. I forgot how much fun they can be. Yesterday my children were invited to another one. Despite the hassel of getting the kids into the car, going to pick up my pregnant friend and her two kids and getting them in the car, driving to the house, and then getting everyone out of the car while my son is screaming because he has entered the separation anxiety/attachment phase it was well worth it. The five mommies sat in the shade while the 15 or so children ran wild in the yard. The lady who held it has two boys (expecting a girl) and so they had lots of outside toys and a nice yard and lots of dirt. My daughter makes a funny grunting sound when she is excited, its a cross between a grunt and giggle and I could hear clear across the yard. She swung, dug in the dirt, and jumped on the trampoline. Three of the five mommies were expecting (all girls in the next two months.) No, I am not one of them. My son finally warmed up to playing and took off with me chasing him as he ran down their driveway. We played until the shade was gone and the kids were covered in dirt.