Cogs are causing trouble

The Toontown site has been causing Raleigh to have heartburn all morning due to frequent bugs that keep kicking him out of his favorite game.

Finally, we got a message that the site had been shut down for maintenance because "the Cogs had been throwing wrenches in the computer system." I read it to Raleigh and he started cracking up. He told me later in the evening that "It's because the Cogs are tired of everybody trying to kill them."

Kysa likes to watch Raleigh play Toontown and talks about the Cogs, which makes Grandma Ro laugh.

Shay's diagnosis

I took Shay to the doctor today.  She has had a runny nose for like 3 weeks and had a rough night and a low grade fever this morning, so we thought maybe an ear infection.  Turns out she doesn’t have anything that needs treated with antibiotics.  She might be teething, or just have another virus…it’s probably teething.  But we did get one solid diagnosis:  Shay has a serious case of bratitis.  The symptoms include whining, throwing her head back when she doesn’t get her way, hitting Kysa, crying when mom or dad leaves the room, and constantly saying “no”.  The prescription is for her parents to stop spoiling her immediately.  This is hard to do when “bratitis” can be confused with really being sick, as parents feel like they need to hold and comfort her since she must be sick if she is acting like she is so miserable.  However, this only prolongs the bratitis. 

Sisterly Love

April Surprise

Look at the size of those snowflakes!

Postcard for Trail Creek Crossing

week in review

We went to visit Grandma Rue last Monday, and I had to drive over to
Springfield to take some pictures of a property we are listing. The kids
were good sports and had fun walking through the pasture. Raleigh and Kysa
enjoyed throwing rocks into the crick at Grandma's. I have so many great
memories of time spent at Grandma's house--it's a real treat anytime I can
take my kids to visit her.

Mom came up to help me out on Friday and Saturday so I could get some things
done and help Barb Ehardt coach a 7th grade team in a tournament. She spent
the last couple nights at Grandma Rue's. She is going in for her second
round of chemotherapy tomorrow and mom is taking her. We are saying lots of
prayers for her.

Ty played in a basketball tournament this weekend at American Falls and they
won the championship. Raleigh went with him both days. There were lots of
kids for him to play with. Grandpa Jer-Bear came and watched some of the
games on Saturday with Clyde Harper as Giff also had a team in the
tournament.

Raleigh helped me clean off cabinets so I could paint them one last coat
tonight, and earlier in the week he helped me put in some hardwood in our
new house. I still have to finish up tiling three bathrooms and a couple of
backsplashes, and the contractors have to finish the fireplace, painting,
trim, and putting in all the ceiling fans. Then clean up will certainly
take a couple of days and we'll finally be able to move in after that. I'm
excited about the neighborhood. Rob Hansen has already helped me with a
couple of things, and it will definitely be fun to be down the street from
the Murdochs.

Darth Kysa

Ty is watching Star Wars V with Raleigh and the theme song for the Empire was just playing. Ty said, “That’s what they need to play when Kysa walks into the nursery.”

putting around

We took advantage of the nice day yesterday! Raleigh did a good job putting
and hitting balls with his dad.

Shay at Sandcreek

Shay thought the golf course was pretty neat, but we only stayed for a few
minutes because it was too hard to corral her and Kysa. Raleigh and Ty
stayed and Raleigh hit a bucket of range balls.

Spring is Finally Here!

It's finally been nice enough to play outside without a jacket. Paul Ricks
was out discing the field today and asked if the girls wanted a ride. Kysa
took him up on the offer and did a few rounds. Shay had a great time
walking around the yard. She said "tractor" a few times. Raleigh went to
the Gables retirement home with me today for sacrament meeting. I had to
play the piano. We decided not to bring the girls to our church since Ky
has had a runny nose, and we just end up chasing Shay around the whole time,
but Ty took Ral to sacrament meeting.

Yesterday we went to Austin and Rachel's for a BBQ with Giff and Mari, Tal
and Chad, Jordan, and of course all the kids. Nash and Ella are cute
babies. Raleigh was really sad to leave. Ty was administering the ACT all
day, so it was fun to be able to do that. The kids all slept on the way
home which is always a bonus.

Dueling Carrots

I babysat Bryson and Garrett for about an hour and a half today because Jean had some things to do at the hospital with her students to finish up the semester. Bryson was not a happy camper most of the time and had to be held, and had an awful blow out so I had to put him in the bathtub just before Jean got back. I think Kysa and Shay are too much for poor little Bryson. He finally wanted to play when Shay got out some balls. So next time I'll know to get out the balls. I imagine we won't watch them very often when we move to the other side of town. Since I had to hold him, I actually sat on the couch and watched a few minutes of television, which I haven't done in a long time. I watched a special on the best dunkers of all time. My favorite, Clyde Drexler, was voted #2 of all time.
Shay was a little upset for the first few minutes Bryson was here. She did NOT like me holding him, and Bryson would just scream if I put him down to hold Shay. But Bryson won out and Shay was fine. Right after that picture was taken, Bryson started crying and never really recovered.

I was going to take the kids out to the golf course after school, but I called Ty when we were en route and he was still at Skyline working things out for the ACT, which he is administering tomorrow. So instead we went to Apple and Kysa and Raleigh went swimming. Kysa continues to improve. She held on to a noodle and was able to swim all the way down to the other end of the pool and back without assistance. So she was quite proud of herself. I think that's good practice because it helps her work on her balance and kicking. we borrowed somebody's noodle as I don't bring toys with us. I have enough trouble with the necessities. heck, we usually all share one towel!

Ty ended up taking Raleigh and Shay home, and Kysa and I went grocery shopping at Sam's Club. Of course, she just had to walk and i took my off of her and she took off when I was in the produce section. I couldn't find her and we had to do a Code Adam. We had the whole store looking for her! one of the associates finally found her in the furniture aisle, playing on the couches. Since she was not in the aisle, it was hard to find her. my heart was pounding a bit, but I had a feeling she would be found climbing on or in something. It was really interesting though--she was embarrassed because she did something I've never seen her do. I was talking to two of the employees who had been looking for her, and she just kept sucking on her index fingers, one of the other had to be in her mouth and if I pulled one out, she'd put the other in. i guess it was her way of coping. i think it scared her when she realized that she was in trouble for running off. I was pretty embarrassed. It seems like I always get the cart without the buckle for the kids. You'd think I'd check right away, but it's usually once I've already put them into the seat that I notice. The checker did tell me they were getting new carts, and they are getting a new prototype for kids that Sam's is going to be testing out. I love how the CostCo carts have two spots for kids to be seatbelted in. Heavens knows I need all the help I can get with the girls.

When we got home I told Kysa to tell ty what she did at Sam's Club, and she said, "I walked." Then she did a little demo of how she ran away from me. She knows.

Speaking of knowing, Shay is understanding a lot of the things that we tell her. For example, if I say, "go get in your crib", she will run over to the porta-crib or the other crib, whichever is closer. If I say, "do you want a banana" when she's in the living room, she will run into the kitchen and reach up toward the bananas. Shay loves to be outside but hasn't got much of a chance yet since it's been so cold. I'm thoroughly looking forward to having a fenced yard! She is quite the climber--she can easily get up on the couches, the chairs, the dining table, and even all the way up into her high chair. I don't think that's a good thing though!

Kysa and Raleigh helped me put away the groceries from Sam's Club. they were also watching me cut carrots for a chicken vegetable soup, and they each grabbed a carrot and started sword-fighting. It was too funny, so I videotaped them...

Kysa and Raleigh also had a blast helping each other wash the dishes. They will definitely need to be re-washed, but it was cute to see how they worked together and got along. Kysa's shirt was completely soaked and she said, "Kysa mess!" But she wasn't worried about it until the job was done.

Dish Network Dancers

Sometimes for "Family Home Evening" (which can be any night of the week) we turn on the Dish Network music stations and let the kids dance. When we hit pause, they have to "freeze." It's pretty hilarious. Shay has started to join in. She was really getting her groove on tonight, bopping her head and spinning around in circles. She is taking after her sister, as Kysa is quite the dancer. She's only two but has way more rhythm than I ever will. Shay is also starting to try to run, as you can see in the video. She loves to climb onto the dining room table and stand up. She's on and off the couches like nothing else. I can't remember if I wrote about her wriggling her way out of her high chair and standing up on the tray when Ty ran out to the car the other day. He came back in and she was standing up on the tray "surfing". He had no idea she could even get out of her seat! Needless to say, we have our hands full.

Here is a short clip of the kids playing in the living room:

Riding the new bike

Raleigh rode his new bike to the tennis courts, with training wheels of course. Ty took him out for the first time on the bike he got for Christmas. It’s been so cold this spring he really hasn’t had a good day to do it.

Kysa showed us a new trick getting into her crib the other day. TWICE she leap-frogged over the side of the crib and then superman-style landed flat on her belly. I think it hurt her knees the second time and she hasn’t tried it since.

Garrett and Bryson came over this afternoon so Jean could get her hair done and Kysa and Shay pushed Bryson down several times. I had to watch them like a hawk. I also flooded the bathroom putting water in for Kysa’s bath. Not good, it’s the third time I’ve done it since we lived here. I caught this one sooner than the other two, but it’s still been a pain.

I also ate some papa murphy’s pizza dough prior to cooking it, and now I think I have food poisoning because I’m cramping every few minutes. I took some hydrocodone to help with the pain, and I’m feeling okay right now…but I can tell it’s not over. This has happened to me two other times with the same symptoms, and both times it was the same cause.

So basically what I’m saying is I’m an idiot, and I don’t learn from my mistakes.

Nap Time

Kysa was exhausted and decided to take her nap on the couch the other day. I usually have to put her down for her naps, but she got her pillow and took matters into her own hands this time--no blanket or anything! She loves stuffed animals, especially her "doggies". The little dalmation is her favorite. Raleigh calls them her "woo woos". He is a big help with the girls. I really couldn't ask for a better big brother for Kysa and Shay.

watch this, Mom!

Raleigh asked me to watch a commercial about donating to St. Jude's children's hospital. He said, "See mom, if you go to that web site you can do that to help Shay."

Shay had a rough night and Ty was up with her a lot. He was nice and slept in the room with her. She had a 101-102 fever. I took her in to the doctor and sure enough, ear infection. So now she's got some antibiotics in her.

She's been grumpy for a couple days, but I thought it was just from teething. The fever started late yesterday afternoon.

Kysa was counting this morning to eleven. It went like this: " one, two, thee, four, fibe, six, seben, eight, nine, ten, eleven.eight!

She says eleven really good. Unlike many of her other words.

I took Kysa swimming with Ral after his swimming lesson. She turned a corner and was swimming to me from the first time she jumped in. She would just swim under the water and then she was able to get her head out of the water enough to take a breath. I would say she can only really comfortably swim about 4-5 feet right now without help, but she was jumping off the side to me when I was ten feet away several times. Every time she jumped in to me, then she’d push away from me and swim back to the side, and I’d give her a nudge if she needed it. She was able to reach up and grab the edge of the pool without a problem. I guess she learned something when she went swimming with Kirby in Pinedale because this is the first time she’s been swimming since.