The Boy Loves His Beans

Whenever we get Costa Vida (take out, of course!), Ashlee and Trevor split a kids meal. Ashlee doesn't like rice and beans but loves a steak quesadilla so Trevor gets her black beans and rice. Boy does he love them! And as a bonus, the fiber helps with his "issues" :)

Animals

For dinner last night, we had steak, at Ashlee's request. Lando asked me if I killed the cow. I said no and that we got it from Grandpa's warehouse. The dinner topic somehow moved to what life would be like if we didn't have any animals (e.g., no blankets, since we wouldn't have sheep's wool).

Out of nowhere, Brynlee pulled out this animal-related fact:

Brynlee: Back in the old days before they had doctors or I mean before they had animal doctors, if an animal got hurt or sick, they had to kill it.

Rob: Who told you that?

Brynlee: Nobody.

Rob: No really, who told you that?

Brynlee: No one told me.

Rob: Well, how do you know that?

Brynlee: From television.

Bowling

We went bowling a couple weeks ago with some friends. We were planning on seeing Madagascar 2, but when we showed up 1 minute before the movie was to start, they were sold out. So we headed over to the bowling alley instead. Here are some videos from the outing. My apologies for the poor quality cell phone video. One of these days I'll stimulate the economy by getting a nice HD digital camcorder.

Lando had his own style for propelling the ball down the lane.


The bumpers were up, but Ashlee rolls a spare without even using them.



Ashlee got to go bowling at a classmate's birthday party yesterday morning before her baptism. She rolled an 81. Her practice with the family apparently paid off.

I didn't get a video of it, but in the first ball of one frame, Brynlee rolled one of the most interesting results that I've ever seen. She knocked down pins 1-6, leaving just pins 7-10 standing (the four in the back). See if you can figure out how that happened. I'll give you a hint; it involved a very, very slowly rolling ball.

An Extra Special Birthday

Today we celebrated an extra special birthday. Ashlee turned EIGHT and was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was a wonderful day spent with family and friends.

Ashlee and her friend Mariah in their baptism jumpers...Beautiful girls in their beautiful white dresses after the baptism...Our family...With Grandpa and Grandma Kovacs...

A couple of weeks ago, Ashlee and I went shopping for a dress. I really wasn't planning on making one, mainly because I was busy and figured it would be easiest to buy one. We went to 3 stores and couldn't find a dress she liked that was her size. There were two that she really liked but they went from a size 6 to a size 12. I guess they were popular dresses for that age since no one had size 8 or 10. I found a pattern similar to the style of one that she liked, made a few tweaks (adding an organza overlay with wide band) and now I'm really glad that ended up making it.

No Ordinary Snowman

Last week Brynlee and Landon were playing outside. The snow was that nasty hard/icy stuff since it had been there since Christmas with no new snow. The kind that you don't sink into when walking on it. Definitely not snowman-making snow. Our neighbors gave us a cute snowman kit for Christmas. They took the stuff outside and I wondered how in the world they were going to build a snowman. When they came in to tell me they made a snowman, I kinda laughed. They said, "No, really, come see our snowman." Well, this is what my creative kiddos did...

Nausea and "Roid Rage"

On Friday I went to the Ear, Nose and Throat specialist. I got to see my CT scan and yep, the doc was right...completely full. Well, two of them at least. The frontal ones (where my headaches were centered) were completely full. In the scan, the sinuses are supposed to be black...in mine the frontal ones were gray with a speck of black. The ones in between my eyes going down the side of my nose (where all the arrows are pointing toward in the picture in the previous post) are also full, thus blocking the drainage. The bottom ones below my eye kinda surprised the ENT. They showed infection lining the perimeter, but not filled. She said that is usually indicative of chronic sinus infections, whereas I'm pretty sure this is the first one I've had. Maybe I've had them before but haven't known it? Who knows. The fourth one is back kinda by my temples, and that was pretty clear.

So the plan of action...an aggressive antibiotic and steroid. Thus the subject of the post. Luckily the ENT warned me that I might have nausea so to take them with food and also that I might be very irritable and moody. So yesterday about 20 minutes after taking them for the first time I experienced both. If I lash out at you, I blame it on the steroids!

Once I am finished with those, the plan is to get another CT scan to make sure everything is cleared out. If it isn't, she recommends surgery to scrape them out and drill through the openings to help things drain better in the future. I'm praying the antibiotics do the trick!

Headache Update

Your sinuses are supposed to look like this...
The doctor called yesterday with the results from my CT scan. I wasn't home but he told Rob that it was pretty bad. He asked how bad. The doc said my sinuses were completely filled with infection and if not treated could eat through the tissue/bone and get to my brain...oh lovely! I would like to see the CT scan of my sinuses but evidently they look kinda like this...
So now I get to go the the ENT. Man, I thought we were done with him after Trevor got his tubes!

It's Not A Tumah!

I've been having headaches everyday since a week ago Sunday. They start in the morning and gradually get worse and worse and WORSE and finally I give in and take Tylenol. If I'm lucky (ie girls are at school, Trevor is down for a nap, Landon is at a friend's house or watching a movie) I can lay down for a short nap to help it go away. Usually about 2 hours later it starts to go away and then it is gone the rest of the day. Then another morning comes and with it, another headache.

The Sunday before Christmas is when it started. The pain was in the area of my left brow bone. It kinda felt like a sinus headache, but the meds to relieve sinus headaches/pressure was doing nothing for me. Finally on Christmas Eve, I decided I wanted to enjoy Christmas so I went to Instacare. The doc thought it was a sinus infection and hooked me up with some Amoxicillin and it seemed to take care of the problem.

Fast forward 3 weeks from when the first headache hit. Again, it's a Sunday and the pain is the same. Then after a couple of days of left brow pain, it decided to migrate to my right side. I finally had enough after 10 days of this crap and went to see a doctor yesterday. After going over a general health history (this was a new family practice doctor for me since I only go to the doctor when I'm pregnant), he did some basic neurological testing and gave me the good news that the headaches were not caused by a brain tumor. Phew! I really didn't think that was the cause, but I guess it's always in the back of your mind.

So there you have it...it's not a tumor. I had a CT scan of my sinuses today to see if there is some infection in there. I don't have any symptoms for a sinus infection, other than the pain. If it's not my sinuses, the doc thinks it might be a type of a migraine and he prescribed some migraine meds for me. The good news is today I haven't gotten a full blown headache. My right brow bone hurts when I tap it, but I can still function.

Primary Singing Time

Today I got to sub for the chorister in Primary. She is in Hawaii. Yes, I'd rather be there but since I'm not, the next place I would choose to be on Sunday is in Primary, singing Primary songs. Can I tell you how much I love to sing Primary songs...yep, I do! I found this idea for Singing Time online. In case you are a Primary chorister or ever get to sub (or you can even use it for Family Home Evening), here's an idea...

Most of the songs in the Primary songbook have a scripture at the bottom of the page that goes along with the song. I wrote the scripture references on strips of paper and put them in a bag. I told them that we would read the scriptures as a clue to what song we would sing next. The kids would come up and choose a paper (we use popsicle sticks with the kids names on them when choosing who gets to come up... An idea I saw also said you can choose a person that is being reverent). They would read the scripture reference out loud and then everyone would search for that scripture. Someone would read the verse out loud and then guess what song they thought it was. Then we would sing the song.

It went okay in Junior Primary. The teachers mostly found and read the scriptures because most of the kids can't read at that age. But the kids all guessed what the songs were and did really well. It went alot better in Senior Primary...which I figured would be the case. Still it was a fun activity and at least it exposed the kids to the scriptures and songs.

So here are the scriptures/songs that I used. You can change them to the ones you are working on for the year. I just chose songs that are very familiar.

John 13:34-35/Love One Another
Amos 3:7/Latter Day Prophets (or Follow the Prophet or We Thank Thee O God For A Prophet)
Mosiah 2:22/Keep the Commandments
D&C 4:2-3/Called to Serve
Deuteronomy 16:17/Give Said the Little Stream
Matthew 7:24-25/Wise Man, Foolish Man
Alma 53:18-22 or 1 Nephi 1:1/We'll Bring the World His Truth (Army of Helaman)
Psalms 82:6/I Am A Child of God
D&C 138:47-48/Families Can Be Together Forever
Isaiah 2:5/Teach Me To Walk in the Light
Article of Faith #8/Book of Mormon Stories (or The Books of the Old/New Testament/Book of Mormon or Scripture Power)
Alma 32:30/Faith

Going to the Store

I had to go pick something up at Walmart last night since Kirsten was busy. Lando and the girls were not playing nicely, so I took him with me. He was pretty excited when I asked if he would go to the store with me.

As we were backing out of the driveway, I asked if he was buckled up. He answered, "I'm okay." After stopping and waiting for him to buckle up, we headed out.

As we were approaching Lee's Marketplace, the following conversation took place."

Lando: What store are we going to?

Rob: Walmart.

Lando: I like Walmart better and that store.

Rob: Which store? That one? [pointing to Lee's]

Lando: Yeah, that one.

Rob: What's that one called?

Lando: It's...I'm pretty sure...I'm pretty sure it's Slee's.

Rob: So you like Walmart and Slee's?

Lando: Yep.

That statement is kind of redundant if you think about it.

What is a Skookie?

I've had a few people ask what a skookie is. If you wondered what it is and haven't googled it yet, I'll do the work for you.

In generic terms, it is a pizookie. The definition from Urban Dictionary is a 'pizza-cookie', baked and served in a personal-sized circular tin, generally with ice cream on top.

Firehouse Pizzeria has their own version...the FH'zzookie.

Camp Chef (a Logan-based company that probably made your dutch oven, if you have one...we have about 5) makes the Skookie, the approximately 7 inch diameter cast iron skillet in which you make a pizookie. They come 2 skillets in a box with either a brownie or cookie dough mix. For Christmas last year we got 2 sets. I also got a square one as a prize at Bunco last year. We like to make brownie skookies because they are the easiest...half a recipe of a boxed brownie mix fits perfectly in 3 skookie pans. You can split one between two people...or better yet, eat it all by yourself!

Birthday Weekend Celebrations

Did you know someone in our house had a birthday yesterday? Brynlee is now 6! We celebrated this weekend with a tumbling party with friends at Sports Academy on Saturday. The kids got to play for an hour on all the trampolines and gymnastics equipment. Then it was another hour of cake and ice cream, opening presents, a scavenger hunt for goodie bags, and more games. Do you know the best part? All I had to do was invite the friends and sit back and watch…oh and give them my credit card…but it was SO worth it!

Landon trying to keep his balance on the beam

Nice jump, Cooper!

Sicily hanging from the bar

Nicole doing tricks on the trampoline

Waiting for the lighting of the candles

Make a WISH!

Fun presents from friends...thanks to all!

"Don't Eat the Treat" game

On Saturday night, I asked Brynlee what she wanted for her birthday breakfast in the morning. Pancakes, eggs, and bacon….in bed, was the reply. I guess she caught on to the fact that I get breakfast in bed on my birthday and Mother’s Day :)

And for her birthday dinner? She chose her favorites…chicken on the bone (aka drumsticks), potatoes (she couldn’t decide between mashed or baked so Rob suggested Twice Baked to which she agreed), steamed broccoli, and jello with bananas (the kind Aunt Cheryl makes for holiday dinners…I’ll leave that to Cheryl from now on; my first attempt was less than successful!). And for dessert…brownie skookies with ice cream, hot fudge and sprinkles. Grandma and Grandpa Barton came and joined in the yummy celebration.

Yep, her birthday was delicious!

Sledding

I took the 3 older kids sledding during the afternoon of Christmas Eve while Kirsten stayed back with T, who was napping.

Too bad the golf course where Ashlee broke her leg and the park where she broke her tooth didn't have DANGER signs. This sledding trip was much more injury-free than some.



An interesting pattern on the retaining wall near the top of the hill.



Ashlee zooming down the hill. Speaking of zooming, zoom in on this pic for the expression on her face.



The long trek back up the hill.



Resting on a jump someone built in the middle of the hill. We did go off the jump. Brynlee and I caught a little air, but Ashlee was going so slow she barely made it over the top. We did shoot some video of the jump and a couple other rides down the hill, but the memory card freaked out. I was lucky to recover the pictures, but no luck with the video.



The long, sad walk back up to the car to head home and make some hot chocolate.

Christmas Wrap Up

Our plan for the Christmas break this year was to be home on Christmas and then drive to Arizona on Friday and stay for a week. I wanted to be able to relax on Christmas day so we had our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. We had T-bone steak and baked potatoes, spinach salad, homemade rolls and Pomegranite 7Up. We had brownie skookies and peppermint ice cream for dessert and left some brownies and milk out for Santa. The girls thought Santa would really like that since he probably gets lots of cookies instead of brownies. We told the girls they couldn't come into our room until 8:00 a.m. and surprisingly they obeyed! They had come upstairs a few minutes before and I could hear them as they saw what Santa brought. The funny thing is they thought Santa brought a tent but really it was a trampoline. It, of course, wasn't set up and the pads were sitting on top of the box (we debated setting it up in the house but decided against it). I guess they didn't see the picture on the paper on top of the pads. When I told them it was a trampoline, Ashlee said "But where is Tumbles My Rollover Pup and where is Brynlee's Baby Born?" Ummm....Santa didn't bring that, he brought a trampoline. Then the tears started welling up in her eyes, along with sobs of "but I really wanted Tumbles!" Great, Santa screwed up this year! Honestly, I thought that the trampoline would be a huge hit and Tumbles and Baby Born would be forgotten but I was mistaken! In Santa's defense, in years' past he brought a very similar Fur Real dog that barks, sits, shakes and does all sorts of other cool tricks as long as you speak clearly and are in an absolute quiet room (when does that happen around here?) and the dog isn't moving while you're giving it a command....oh, and a doll that talks, cries and knows its mommy's voice. No worries, though. Later that day, Grandma Barton asked Ashlee if she was angry that Santa didn't bring Tumbles. She said, "Yeah, I was mad but now I'm over it. My mom said I could buy it with my own money or maybe I'll just ask Santa for it again next year."

Trevor got a few of his own trucks and tractors but was happier playing with Landon's police car...

Landon loves his new workbench and quickly found his construction hat in his room and went to work. The girls in their matching Christmas jammies...

Since there was a huge storm that blessed us with lots of snow, we decided to not make the long trek to AZ on Friday. We ended up going to Provo Friday night (took us 45 minutes longer than usual because of packed snow/ice on the roads) and then made the journey to the land of warm sunshine on Saturday.

Here is the last of the snow we saw as we stopped for gas in Kanab....

A beautiful sunset with cacti on the horizon about an hour north of Phoenix...

We enjoyed a week of 60+ degree weather (Brynlee was mad that I didn't bring shorts and swimsuits!) They loved playing out in the backyard on the trampoline and in the sand box (and found leftover money from the treasure hunt) and going to the park...

Trevor wasn't too fond of the tube slide. A bonk on the head coming around the curve probably had something to so with that...

For my parents' Christmas gift this year, my siblings and I redecorated a couple of rooms in their house. We (or should I say "I" :o)) painted, my sister took pictures of the grandkids and we all bought new frames for the pictures of the grandkids and families and made new picture arrangements on the walls in two rooms. It was a fun project and brought new life and openness to the rooms!

The grandkids wall (I still need to make a wood sign that says "Some of our greatest blessings call us Grandpa and Grandma") It will go in the big space in the middle :) And that big hole is the vent and my dad was ordering a new cover for it...

All the grandkid pictures used to be on the fireplace mantle but it was getting pretty squished with 17 (now 18 as of Jan. 2 and soon to be 19 in March). Now it has wedding pictures of me and my siblings...

All the family pictures, my parents, and my oldest sister who died when she was 2...

We are back home after another loooong drive. Now I have to put away Christmas, get back into the school schedule, and stay in my house because I don't enjoy going outside when the temperature is in the single digits! Happy New Year everyone!

Welcome Baby Gavin!

My brother Tim and his wife Heather had baby #5 yesterday. He was a week overdue and entered the world at a whopping 10 lb. 5 oz. and 21 inches. He almost broke the weight record from their first baby, Spencer, who was 10 lb. 8 oz.! They named him Gavin Thomas. Congrats Tim and Heather! He's definitely a cutie!

We've been playing in the warm sun of Arizona the last week so I'll have to get caught up on all of the fun we've had.

What color is my eye patch?

For a couple weeks in high school, I was known as 'that colorblind kid from biology class' thanks to my lab partner who turned me in when we were talking about colorblindness and dominant vs. recessive genes. At least I already knew I was colorblind. Another kid in the class found out he was, since he saw the same stuff on the Ishihara tests that I did. Surprise!

So I'm used to the 'what color is ...' conversation, if you can call it a conversation. It is generally not so much a conversation as a series of questions about what color various nearby items are. Out of nowhere today, Brynlee asked me what color my shirt is, but the conversation went a little different direction than it usually does.

Brynlee: What color is your shirt?

Rob: Red

Brynlee: You're not colorblind.

Rob: Yes I am. Color deficient is probably a better way of putting it. I can see colors, but some of them just look the same to me.

Ashlee: There's a boy in my class who is colorblind.

Brynlee: Is that the boy who wears an eye patch?

Ashlee went on to explain how he had a problem with one eye, so he needed the patch on the good eye so the weak eye would get stronger. I don't know why having color issues would make someone need an eye patch, but to a Kindergartner, it probably made perfect sense.

It's beginning to look...

Monkey's Birthday

My little Trevor turned 1 yesterday! We sang Happy Birthday to him at the Barton Christmas get together yesterday but we didn't end up cutting the cake since there were so many other treats. Today after church the kids were dying to eat Trevor's monkey cake. So we sang Happy Birthday again and let our little monkey dig in! We let him pick at the cake and then cut him a piece to eat. He pretty much inhaled the whole piece of cake. After the cake, he went down for a nap so he still hasn't opened his presents, yet.

No more cake? I guess I'll just eat the plate...

I think there are just a few more crumbs I can lick off...

The other night I was pretty emotional thinking about my little baby turning one. I fell asleep crying and then woke up in the morning and more tears started falling. I don't think I've ever been so emotional about my kids turning one. I think it was a combination of that, plus Ashlee turning 8 next month and being baptized that really got to me. I decided to write down a few of the thoughts that were going through my head the other night in the form of a letter to Trevor...

To My Little Monkey,
It’s so hard for me to believe that one year ago it was Christmas time. All the presents were bought and wrapped. I was all ready for Christmas early last year because I wanted to be ready in case you decided to join our family a few weeks before Christmas. You decided to wait, though, but when I saw my midwife the day before your due date and she gave me the option of being induced, I took it. Maybe it was a little selfish of me, but my only Christmas wish was for you to be in my arms. The next day I called and called and called the hospital to see when I could come in for my induction. They were so busy all day that finally at 10:00 at night I got the call to come in. Grandma Barton came to stay with your older sisters and brother, and daddy and I were off to the hospital. I was so anxious to see you! We got to the hospital around 11:00 on December 19th, and the nurse started the pitocin at midnight. Just 4½ hours later on December 20, 2007, you were in my arms, all 7 little pounds of you, and no one could wipe the smile from my face.

A year later, you are starting to show your independence. This morning I nursed you for the last time, but know that I will still hold and cuddle you as you hold your own bottle to feed yourself. I don't think I can give up that "just you and me time". At breakfast the other day, in an attempt to finish off the remaining box of rice cereal mixed with bananas and applesauce, you wanted to hold the spoon yourself with your right hand while shoving cereal in with your bare left hand. I have a feeling the days of multiple baths are in the near future. It’s bittersweet as I watch you learn basic new skills that will help you grow and take care of yourself.

Ashlee, Brynlee and Landon adore you as their baby brother. They affectionately call you T-Monkey, Monkey or just “T”. The girls squeal with delight when they see you first thing in the morning or when they come home from school and smother you with kisses. You are already forming a “buddy” bond with Landon as you follow him around, crawling from room to room to find where he is playing.

You are the cutest little thumb sucker. I may not think that if you are still doing it in a few years, but for now it’s adorable. It’s funny when you find something soft or fuzzy on the floor and play with it in your left hand or rub it against your face and ear while sucking your right thumb. You look so peaceful and content. Most of the time, I just want to squeeze you and cover your chubby cheeks with kisses.

You have yet to take your first steps, but really, that is just fine with me. You can stay little for as long as you would like. I’m in no hurry. You love to copy sounds and actions of others, and Brynlee loves to point at you and laughs when you point back. You love to growl back and forth with me and pant like a little puppy and then laugh when I do the same. You shake your head and say “no-no”. Sometimes I think you just like to say the sounds but don’t really know what it means, but then the other night when you saw me touch an ornament on the Christmas tree, you gently reminded me to not touch the tree. You point at things you see and jabber while telling me all about it, as if I know exactly what you are saying. Sometimes your jabbering really sounds like you just said something and everyone in the room turns and looks at each other saying “Did he really just say that?”

Trevor, you have blessed our family with so much love. I thank my Heavenly Father for blessing me with such a sweet, happy, cuddly baby. I love you Monkey! Happy 1st Birthday!

Love,
Your mommy