Has This Ever Happened To You?

WARNING ! ! ! ! WARNING ! ! ! ! WARNING ! ! ! ! WARNING ! ! ! !

I'm about to admit to faulty parenting. But I must add a disclaimer......It could happen to anyone. (Just makes me feel better.)

So.....Ryan and I were in the kitchen while Lexi and Kyson were in the backyard playing. They had been playing back there for probably about 20 minutes. We were sitting at the kitchen table which is right by the sliding glass door so we could see them when they were on the patio. Pretty soon we heard them playing in the sideyard. We'd see them every now and again.

We saw Kyson playing golf. He was walking around hitting golf balls.

Kendri came into the kitchen and asked if we could go on a walk. Sure. So Ryan and I went upstairs to get shoes. All of sudden we hear someone knocking on our door. I look at Ryan. Who's at our house? We weren't expecting anyone and we don't usually get unexpected visitors.

So I look out the window and see a firetruck.

"Ryan! What is the fire department doing at our house!"

Ryan ran downstairs to open the door and this is what I hear.....

"Is this your kid?"

Now I'm really confused. My kid? I know where all my kids are..... right? But then Ryan answers with, "Yes. Where was he?"

Kyson? And did he just answer with, "Where was he?" Brilliant. Let them think we had no idea where our 16 month old was. (Which I guess is sort of accurate considering I thought he was in the backyard when obviously he wasn't.) I made a quick decision. I would stay upstairs and hide so the fire department would think mommy was out of the house and daddy was babysitting.

The firemen told Ryan they had found Kyson playing in the street in front of our house. Lexi had accidentally left the gate open and he certainly noticed. I can't believe the timing. He couldn't have been out front for more than a few minutes. But thankfully they found him and not some psycho-path. We felt like horrible parents. But now it's been a few weeks and we can look back on it and laugh. Amazing what time can do!

Chompin' at the Bit

Kyson has been teething. Or he has a cold. Maybe both. You know the drill..... snotty noses, poor sleeping habits, crankiness. Hard to tell which one it is. Which means I've been listening to him whine for a week.

(I suppose I should add that I did get a break over the weekend while he was at Gammie's house. But he probably didn't whine for her. He saves all his whining for his mommy.) And it doesn't help that I've been trying to break him of his first love.

His binky.

Poor baby doesn't know what to do without it. But I cheat, cheat, cheat. I let him have it at naptime and bedtime. And when I can't take the whining anymore. Baby steps, people.

Anyhoo, I'm wondering how long it could possibly take for one tooth to come in. Because I'm pretty sure Kyson has been teething for a year. Seriously. He only has 3 teeth. And one almost poking through but at the rate we're going it could be another year. And he is 16 months old. I bet your babies have a full set of chompers by then, huh? I saw his first tooth coming in for probably 2 months before it actually broke through. Perhaps I'm partially senile in my thirties but I don't remember it taking so long for my other kids. Hmmmm. Senile at thirty. Maybe.

On an unrelated topic, Kendri's catch-phrase for the week is.........

"I'm not affiliated with you!"

Usually shouted after someone has made her angry. I like to think it will impress the nosey people who are eavedropping. But more likely it will result in a 911 call.

Memorial Day Knock-out

We had a great 3 day weekend. We had a barbeque at Angel's Camp with swimming and playing with cousins. Too bad I didn't take any pics except for this one.....I think it about sums up our day!

Wanna know what I've been up to?

I know. A little disturbing. But allergy season calls for desperate measures.

And desperate measures I took. My first attempt at nasal rinsing gave me a hideous flashback to my brief stay in Hawaii. Bear with me while I reminisce for a minute....

If you had been there you would've first seen me bravely frolicking in the rather large waves. Then you would've seen a huge wave come crashing over me. You would've laughed and then seen me gulp some air before a second huge wave gleefully picked me up and then threw me down without remorse. You probaby would've started to get bored by the time the 4th and 5th wave hit. And then you would've started to wonder how many people drown a mere 5 feet from shore. Because that's what was happening. Or so I thought.

I thankfully was able to have just enough time for a quick gasp of air before being pummeled mercilessly each time. I was much too prideful to call for help. (But then again, there were only a few people around and probably the only who would've come for me was Amber. And her swimming skills are much like my own. Instead of being a rescue mission it would've turned into some weird Romeo and Juliet fiasco.) At any rate, I managed to finally claw my way to shore where I laid down heaving and gagging on salt water. Just conscious enough to wonder if anyone noticed my near-death experience. Maybe I could convince them I was just enjoying a little body surfing.

But let's get back to nasal rinsing.......

The first go literally had me choking and feeling like I just face-planted on the wakeboard (or "frolicking" in waves). I wasn't really sure if I was cut out for this ancient form of cleansing. But then I remembered my nose. Red and raw from constantly blowing and sneezing for 2 weeks straight regardless of the allery pills I'd been popping religiously every 2 hours.....a-hem, I mean 4 to 6 hours. And I also thought I would really rather use my hard earned money for something other than a bulk supply of allergy tablets. So I kept at it. And I must say that it has helped quite a bit. Morning and night for the past week and I feel pretty good. My nose is still red but I haven't been using allergy medicine all that much (I thought it might be wise to detox). And May is my worst time of year for allergies. I figure if I can stick it out for another few weeks I'll be in the clear. So my final verdict? Try it. I dare you.

Creating Art

Lexi likes to paint rocks. It's one of her many creative outlets.

Can you tell Kyson sort of missed the whole concept???

By the way, Kyson also managed to cover Lexi's leg in orange paint. She was washing off with the hose when she yelled with some exasperation, "Can someone please help me here? I'm turning into orange juice." Thank goodness for water colors!

Splish, Splash!

Guess what happens at our house once the thermostat makes it above 80 degrees? That's right......we bring out the poooool. Actually if it was up to the girls this would have happened 2 months ago. They started begging for swimsuits and sunblock when it hit 60 degrees. So in a nutshell, Welcome Summer.....you've been missed!

Frog Jump

This weekend we headed up to Angel's Camp for the annual Frog Jump. It's the county fair and, yes, they do have frog jumping contests. We watched those for a little while and I must say those frogs are BIG. I don't think I care to touch them....so, here are Lexi and Kendri on their first ride of the day. Our ward did a service project for the fairgrounds last weekend and as a result we were able to get in for free! Whoohooo!

We couldn't leave without a little bit of face painting. Lexi's was a humming bird and Kendri had a butterfly mask. As you can see, Kyson was enamored by the face paint :)

And we also needed a little sustenance after riding all those rides.....Who can say no to nice deep fried funnel cake??? (Actually the girls are eating ice cream. I saved the funnel cake for myself)

The weather was really nice.....not too hot, not too cold. We went with Gammi and Pa and the girls managed to poop them out before we went for round two on the rides. We also watched a puppet show which Kyson really liked. Pinochio even came out to say hello and pat our backs. And what did Ryan and I do, you ask? Well, I didn't do anything but keep track of kids but Ryan climbed the "Rock Wall of Money". Okay, I don't really know what they called it but it was one of those rock climbing walls and at the top there was money clipped on. If you could get the money you got to keep it. I don't need to tell you that obviously it's nigh near impossible or else they wouldn't put any money up there. Well, Ryan tried it and didn't quite make it but he did make a good show when his legs started shaking! Talk about some moves......And a good time!