Natalie had to go to the ER yet again so she and I got to go for pedicures again. She said that we weren't allowed to match so I got a zebra pattern, and she got a flower on her big toes and glitter on all the rest. She was quite pleased with the results. She has a follow-up appointment tomorrow with another specialist to see if we can finally get to the bottom of her problems.
Natalie doing crafts. She would do them all day every day if I let her.
Ally and Natalie. This is at the end of the party, and I think I was lucky to catch them with any part of their costumes left. It was pretty hot outside!
From my brother...
My History of Economic Thought teacher sent me this and I found it to be funny yet true…
From a former student:
This is from my co worker's mom who did this last night. A gutsy woman - just my type!!
In a local restaurant my server had on a "Obama 08" tie, again I laughed as he had given away his political preference--just imagine the coincidence. When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight.
I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful. At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient needed the money more.
I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application
-- Amanda Daninger
Kent and I submitted our early voting ballots. I always take the time to read up on all of the propositions and candidates before I vote because I want to make an informed decision. Kent trusts me enough to go along with my votes. (I tell him that he can do his own research to come up with something different if he is so inclined, but so far he has voted with me. I guess it's times like this that my Poli Sci studies from ASU come in handy...) I even voted across party lines in a few places this time. I felt a little guilty about that! But I really felt that some of the people from the other party would be better in those positions.
Listening to all of the ads on TV and radio I thought that many of the propositions sounded great. But before I voted I had to do my homework because I didn't want to vote for something that I was misled about by the ads. It's times like this that I really love the Internet. I was able to find several websites that explained what the propositions would really do. Some of them had really good points on both sides, but then they also had some really terrible consequences that they DON'T put in the ads on TV and radio. I was shocked that they got enough valid signatures to get these propositions onto the ballot!
This election is so important! Please don't waste your vote! Do your homework so you can make an informed decision. If you're still unsure how to vote then PRAY!
I apologize for some of the pictures being blurry. Someone switched the settings on the camera, and I didn't realize until I pulled the pictures that many of them were blurry. I cleaned them up as much as I could on Photoshop, but even that has its limits!
Wednesday we had our pizza party courtesy of Little Caesar's, and Kent even brought me some flowers home. 
I almost forgot! Justin had his 3 month check up with the orthodontist yesterday, and he's finally got enough teeth to get his braces! Hee, hee! I get mine off 2 weeks from yesterday, and Justin gets his on on November 19. Because of this we're going to strategically plan our family Christmas pictures so that this year no one will have braces in the picture! My teeth will be straight, I'll be thinner than last year, and I won't have the glazed over look from last year's picture. (I was about 3 1/2 weeks post-op from my back surgery when we took our family pictures last year, so I was still on pain medication, and wearing those darn compression stockings. Yuck! IMHO I looked terrible, but I didn't even realize it.) This year will be different, I'm sure!!!
My sister Amy reminded me in a Facebook post this morning that I haven't updated in a while. I guess it has been a while- 10 days. Whoops!
This week is our stake's family togetherness week. The idea came from our stake presidency to remind us that families are central to the Creator's plan, and so that we can make our families stronger by building on experiences that we share together.
Last night we didn't do anything spectaculat because Natalie had dance and the boys had gymnastics. By the time we ate dinner we only had enough time to finish a couple of jobs, read and get ready for bed.
Oh, we did manage to have a quick planning meeting. We had each child give 2 suggestions of things they would like to do together as a family, and then we took a vote.
Tonight we're having a pizza party and game night.
Tomorrow we're going to see a movie at the theater.
Thursday night we're going to watch a movie together at home.
Friday we're planning on making our annual excursion to the farm.
Saturday we're going to try to clean out the garage and maybe hit the zoo in the morning. Then we have the Primary Program practice (I'm subbing on the piano for the practice so I'll be there too), Trevor is going to a Halloween party, and Kent and I are going to dinner then to watch the UFC fight with another couple.
We'll see how everything goes! I'll try to post pictures of the things we did, and hopefully by the end of the week I'll have some really neat experiences to share.
Last night my brother Allan had Justin and Trevor over to spend the night. They got up this morning at 6 a.m. to go fishing. Before we dropped them off, Kent explained the need to be careful with the hooks because of the barbs. The boys seemed to understand, so we left them and came home. I couldn't sleep last night so when I finally did get to sleep Kent let me sleep in and answered the door when they got here. I woke up about 2 hours later. I went in to see the boys and ask if they had a good time. They said that they did, Justin caught a fish, and Trevor had fun but instead of a fish he caught a hook in the hand. Ouch! He told Kent, but Kent wasn't feeling worried about it I guess, because he didn't say anything to me. Anyway, because it had been in the water I took him to Urgent Care to have it removed. 
Here's Trevor's hand before we went to Urgent Care.
Trevor was really brave and didn't cry at all until the doctor injected his hand with lidocaine. I think every single person in the whole building heard him screaming. I held his arm down with both hands, and the doctor held his hand steady with one hand while injecting it with the other hand.
Here's a photo of his hand after it got injected with the lido.
The doctor let his hand numb up for a few minutes, then came in and cut the hook. Then he had to push it out through a new hole to get it out. It took several minutes, and I was worried that he was going to have to cut a hole with a scalpel and that Trevor would have to get stitches. It finally broke through the skin and he was able to pull the hook out. Now Trevor has 2 little puncture holes. He has to have antibiotics for a week to kill off any infection because the hook had already been in the lake. He just needs to keep a bandage on it until it scabs over, but he's good to go. He's at a birthday party now, and I'm sure the story's gotten better with each telling of it.
Natalie got into the spirit of Halloween by making her "scary" face.
Drew decided to channel a little Austin Powers for his silly picture.
Back to business. Drew loves to be in charge of the remote. He already knows how to do almost everything with it. Yikes! I guess that's why we have a lot more cartoons recorded lately.
Natalie let me do her hair so she would look so cute at my mom's house. I curled it into ringlets using the curling iron, but by the time we got the picture it had already started to come out. We visited with my Uncle Wayne, his wife Nilva and her son Felipe. I didn't get any pictures of the adults because no one was ready at the same time I had my camera. Oh well. 
Natalie's ringlets.
Trevor, Allan and Justin
Melia, Natalie and Sydney
Here are my indoor Halloween decorations. I made my Halloween advent calender 2 years ago based on the Pottery Barn calender that was way too expensive. I made my BOO letters based on some similar letters I saw at Recollections. I made the ghost and pumpkin at an Enrichment several years ago. All of the other things are little decorations that I've either bought or been given over the years. 
I had the boys help me finish cleaning the walls, baseboards and walls today. I did the blinds myself so they could play. They worked pretty hard so I thought they deserved a little break. Then I had them watch the kids so I could paint and touch up all the doors, doorjambs, and baseboards in the house. I still need to finish the baseboards in our bedroom, but I touched up every door and most of the baseboards and doorjambs in the house. I had to completely repaint 4 doors downstairs so it took awhile! They look almost brand new!
I realized last night that Kent had done his usual job on Justin's ceiling. He really hates taping off to paint so he paints up to the corner, and if it gets part of the ceiling or baseboards he waits until the paint is dried THEN tapes off and repaints the baseboard or ceiling. I don't understand why he does this, but it's what he does. As I was cleaning with the boys I realized that Justin's ceiling still needs to be fixed, and all of the baseboards in our bedroom are sage green. I painted our room shortly after Natalie was born, and i can't believe I didn't realize how bad it was until now. I did one coat on the baseboards in 1/3 of the room, but there is still a lot to fix. I can paint a pretty straight line, but it takes a while so Kent gets to pick up some painter's tape tomorrow so we can finish.
Amy, I even posted some after pictures for you. 
Tomorrow I'm getting my deep tissue massage so that will help my back recover from all of the strain, and then I'm going to Julie's house so she can train me to work in the office while she's recovering from her surgery. I plan on taking it pretty easy tomorrow! Let's hope all goes according to plan...
My kids just LOVE this time of year. I have them home for a week and a half, so we get to do the big jobs that I don't want to do all by myself. This year the jobs are: cleaning the walls, baseboards, doors and then touching up the paint where needed; clean the wood blinds, windows and window sills inside; organizing all of my storage boxes in the garage; reorganizing the pantry; cleaning out their closets; and purging the toys in the game room.
On Sunday after the kids went to bed I decided to reorganize the pantry. I couldn't find anything so it had to be done- again. I did it about 2 weeks ago, but apparently a tornado hit our pantry so you couldn't tell that I had worked in there. I also deep cleaned their bedrooms and removed clothes and toys they don't use anymore. I filled half of the trash can and half of the recycling can with all the things I found.
Yesterday we started downstairs. We cleaned all the walls, baseboards and doors. I love Mr. Clean Erasers!!! They get crayon, pencil, pen and marker off easily. I don't let my kids use them because they disappear... my kids don't move them or lose them! (Heh, heh, yeah right!) Justin and Trevor followed me and we scrubbed the walls, doors, door handles and baseboards to near perfection in less than an hour. Then they wiped around the windows, I vacuumed up dust and cobwebs, then I vacuumed the blinds. Can I just say how much I love my vacuum!
After that I let them take a break for a few hours. Before dinner I decided that we could knock out the garage too so I got the ladder and started getting the storage containers down. The storage boxes weren't a problem initially. I labeled everything well before we moved. HOWEVER, I made the mistake of letting Kent put some stuff away, and it became next to impossible to find anything quickly. We took down all of the boxes, the black trash bags full of stuff (Kent's idea) and various items that were just lying about in the garage. We brought it all in, and I got to work. I got out my handy-dandy label maker, and started sorting. By the time I was done everything had a place to go, and I was able to get 2 of those huge black trash bags full of clothes and shoes to donate.
This morning my back hated me... well, it hated me last night too so I took some pain meds for that... so I decided that we could wait until tomorrow to do the upstairs. Today the boys helped me take the boxes back to the garage so I could put it away. Aah! (Angels singing.) Now I can actually find the things that I need quickly, and I won't have any more problems finding what I'm seeking!
Tomorrow we'll clean the walls, baseboards, doors and blinds upstairs. Then we can start with the paint touch-ups. I am so excited! My kids, regretfully, are not. But that's okay. They're learning to work and getting to see how happy it makes their mother when things are clean. They'll even (grudgingly) admit that they love how they feel when the house is clean. They're learning to work together to get their jobs done. And when we're all done with everything they'll enjoy the reward- take-out dinner and a movie. (Please, please, please don't let it be Beverly Hills Chihuahua! Please!!!)
I think I'll have to purge the toys by myself. It's amazing how attached they become upon seeing toys they've ignored for over a year when they learn that I'm giving them away. This will probably be a good job for Friday night when the boys spend the night at Uncle Allan's house and Natalie is at dance... Hmm... Better get the supplies ready!
If I wasn't embarrassed to let the world see how how big of the dust bunny colonies had grown I would totally post pictures! But I am, so you'll have to use your imagination! I might post a picture of the garage, though. I'm happy that it's looking so much better. Now, if I could just figure out how to get Kent to clean his portion of the garage..... And his office... total fire hazard... Any suggestions?
I have been so busy lately! I have had to help plan and organize, and now teach, at enrichment... That's tomorrow night. I'll be teaching about 90 day supplies. Lots to do! I'm eager for that to be over so I can focus on the other things I need to work on.
So far today I had to take Justin to the podiatrist, dropped him back at school, went to the gym with Drew, back home to bathe, picked Natalie up, then went to my doctor for a check-up on my thyroid and to get my flu shot. I'll probably take at least the 2 boys we suspect have asthma to get their shots too. And, I have lost 18 pounds since July so yea me!
After that we went to Target to fill my prescriptions, and ate lunch while we were there. I only had time for a half of a blueberry muffin this morning, and after having my blood drawn I really needed to eat something. Now we're home and leave again in a few minutes to get the boys and take them to get eye exams. Then we'll go get them new shoes. Trevor needs shoes for church, and Justin has always worn out his shoes so fast. The podiatrist thinks that the new shoes will give more support, which will help until he gets new splints. He has to wear them to bed to help stretch out the ligaments in his feet and leg. It doesn't sound like too much fun to me!
I think I'll get to come home after that. I'll have time to make dinner, clean up and then go to an activities committee meeting tonight.
Today is my "easy" day so I'll have to do a lot of work tonight to be ready for tomorrow's enrichment. I hope that I can get enough sleep tonight! I'll need it!
I sat down on Saturday and made myself a new blanket using the material from Hawaii. Kent and Justin helped me set it up on the frame so I could tie it. All done, and now the kids are asking me to make each of them a new blanket.
Front of the blanket.
Back of the blanket.Today was the big day for Natalie. Monday was the prep day for her procedures… not a good day here. The first medication we tried made her vomit, so we called the doctor’s office and he told us to try another one. That didn’t go over well either because “it tastes so nasty.” We resorted to a third medication after that, and by the time we were done she was very unhappy with the entire experience… especially me.
We had to arrive at the hospital at 7:30 a.m. I am definitely not a morning person, and neither is Natalie. However, the nurses were great, and kept her totally at ease. She even got to go to the nurses’ gift room and select a stuffed animal. Her doctor had a very calming presence so that helped tremendously. He’s very friendly and laughed at her jokes so that made Natalie really happy. When she went back I grabbed breakfast from the cafeteria. When I was done I went back to the waiting room, and her doctor came out 10 minutes later and gave me the rundown of her procedures. (Everything went well, no complications.) He was able to eliminate two possible diagnoses, and he will call me in a few days with the biopsy results. Then we will discuss changes in her treatment plan.
Natalie after she was done. Her lip was all bloody on the left side from some of the instruments.
Yesterday while Natalie and I were at the hospital Kent called me. One of his co-workers never showed up to a customer appointment on Monday, and he wouldn't answer his phone. The customer got worried, tracked him down and called the office to let them know what was going on. It turns out that on Sunday evening Kent's co-worker had been booked into jail on several charges including attempted murder. (Read the story here.) Kent said everyone in the office was totally shocked, and it was totally inconsistent with the man that they knew. Kent has gone to several appointments with him, and said that he is one of the nicest guys he has ever met... or so he thought! I feel really bad for his family. I can't even imagine how hard this must be for them. And I'm so glad that the victim is going to recover. I pray that both families will get the resolution they need.
Put this under things that make you go, "Hmm."
Clay Aiken is gay. This is just such a surprise. Who knew?
(Um, I think that would be anyone who has ever seen or heard him.)
I thought it was hilarious when I saw this online yesterday. Someone felt that this "announcement" was newsworthy. I think everyone already knew this so it really wasn't news, was it? Aren't there more important things to report? Seriously!
This kid! In the last month he has done several things that make me question whether or not he has a death wish.
1. Just before we left for Hawaii he stuffed a BB in his nose and had to get it removed.
2. Right after Hawaii he jumped from the third or fourth stair and face planted on the tile at the bottom of the stairs... resulting in a HUGE goose egg on the left side of his forehead.
3. On Tuesday he and Justin jumped on the trampoline together and landed at the same time. This caused Drew to fly into the air, landing on the trampoline with his arm extended to help brace himself for the impact. In doing so he hurt his elbow. Our neighbor, who is a paramedic, checked it out (because after hearing him cry for 4 hours I thought maybe it was something more serious and was on my way to the ER). The paramedic gave him the all clear. All night long Drew cried and cried and cried, and his arm was bent close to his body the whole time. I know this because after he woke up screaming at 1 a.m. I went to to his room and brought him to sleep in ours so I could keep an eye on him.
The next morning I let Drew and Kent sleep in while I dropped the kids off at school then went to the gym. When I got back from the gym he was still holding his arm funny and couldn't extend it. When he tried lifting it up he couldn't go far before crying out in pain. I decided to take him to the doctor. After talking to his pediatrician they recommended that we go to urgent care who has an x-ray machine and could take care of him much more quickly. We were the only people there so he got seen right away. The doctor thought that maybe he broke his arm near the elbow so Drew got x-rays done. The doctor said that he didn't see a break but it appeared that he dislocated his elbow.
This is when I think, "Oh crap. It's going to be like getting immunizations. I'm going to have to hold him down, trying not to get hit or kicked in the process, and it's going to hurt like ____."
It took three tries to get the elbow to go back into place. Drew was screaming, kicking and hitting the whole time. The doctor left after each try to give Drew a chance to calm down. Each time he left Drew was crying and crying. When he would calm down he said, "Mom, I not like dat man. Him's hurts me. I want you tell him go 'way." About that time the doctor would return and Drew gave him the look of death. When the doctor would work on his arm he would try desperately to get him away, then beg me to make him stop (talk about feeling guilty), then he would bury his face in my chest when the doctor left his room and cry for several minutes because it hurt so bad. After the elbow finally went back into place the doctor gave him AND me a gift certificate for a free ice cream at Chick-Fil-A. Which is where we went for lunch immediately after we finished.
This is him eating said ice cream. He was still careful with his arm (notice it's still down and close to his body) because it was really sore. He couldn't bear to have anyone touch it until Friday. Now he seems totally fine. I just asked him if he's going to do anything else to get hurt. He says no, but he said that after incidents 1 and 2. I guess he's just more of a daredevil than the other 3 kids... I hope he doesn't do anything too serious! I don't know how much more of his "bravery" I can stand!
Today Justin was ordained to the Aaronic priesthood. He had his interview with the bishop last Sunday so we were all set for the ordination today. My mom, dad and step-mom, Kent's dad, mom and step-dad and my brother Allan were all able to come to the church to participate in this special day with him. He was presented to the ward this morning in sacrament meeting and he was a little surprised that he was called to the stand. Brother Hawks asked him how a deacon was like a boy scout. Justin looked completely freaked out, and then Bro. Hawks told him that they both always had to be prepared.
(left to right) Don, Ann, Justin, Maryann, Allan, Trevor, Susan, Natalie, Kent, Drew, Julie, Lenny and Duane
The birthday boy himself... the picture of cool.
Natalie's face is back to normal in time for Justin's birthday. She only has a few bite marks to remind us that it even happened. She really was happy it was Justin's birthday, but she isn't a morning person!
I took her to see our favorite doctor to check her face out. He didn't think it was anything more than allergic reaction, and to continue giving her Benadryl. At least I was doing the right thing! He said he didn't see any pink eye so I was able to send her to school on Tuesday. I'll take another picture tomorrow and post it. She looked much better today. I think she'll look even better in the morning. Yea! We still have a TON of mosquitoes everywhere after all of the rain from the HUGE monsoon storms. I kill several every day. They really seem to like me and Natalie. The boys all have mosquito bites too, but they are just little dots. Here's Drew on Friday. This bump shows up better in picture than it does looking at him. You can almost see a bruise in the picture. He still insists that he stairs rolled over him, and he didn't slip. At least he doesn't have headaches!
Lately Drew jumps from the second or third stair to prove how tough he is. I keep warning him that one of these times he's going to fall and get hurt, but he tells me he's "not gonna get hurt." Tonight his luck changed because while I was at a baby shower slipped and fell. I got home a few minutes later, and Kent was lying down with him. I took a look at the goose egg that had already formed over his left eye, and put an ice pack on it. He told me that the stairs rolled over him. I don't know how that's possible, but that's his story and he's sticking to it! I'm hoping that the swelling will go down by morning. He just came downstairs and said he has a headache so I'm going to stay up with him to make sure that he's okay. So far he's acting normal, but I want to make sure. Better safe than sorry, right? My poor baby!
Hi everyone,
Kent's sister, Becka, is in training for a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Her goal is to raise $4000, but her minimum donation is $3200. She only has 1 more month and is at $700, so whatever you can do to help would be greatly appreciated. Here is her web page where you can track her progress and make a donation. Thank you! http://pages.teamintraining.org/los/nikesf08/rmontgomery
Becka, Natalie and Maryann in August 2007
Welcome to my Team In Training home page.
I'm training to participate in an endurance event as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I am completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!
Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission.
