Im In Timeout

I had a meltdown tonight, so I put myself in timeout. I've been here for an hour. I'm really starting to like it. I might need to have more meltdowns.
Let me tell you how it started.
I made dinner for my family, and we are all sitting down at the dinner table enjoying our meal. And that's where the perfect-family-dinner-moment ends. Easton hates it, and Aislee loves it so much she's finished it, and is still hungry. Lewis downed it too, so he starts whining for more food. Okay okay children...calm down, let's see...we had Lentil soup and asparagus, so I offer them strawberries or an apple...of course one says strawberries, the other says apple. So, I settle it and go for the apple. One wants skin on, one wants skin off, so I start cutting away, and still I can hear whining from all three......wait a second, I do have a husband here don't I?, oh yes, but he is miraculously deaf at the moment and apparently has no bodily functions, because he's just sitting there. (which to his benefit, is rare) I hand the baby a handful of goldfish (because it was the quickest thing I could get to) he throws them off his highchair and starts yelling at me again. Meanwhile, Aislee and Easton are both whining their apple requests...and something snaps in my head, I scream...and walk/run to my room, slam the door (because that's key in melt-down procedure), and walk in my bathroom, slam that door, and lock it. I sit down on the floor, count to 10 and breathe deep. Peace and quiet....wow....this is nice. I notice my laundry basket full of clothes that need to be put away, so I do it....all alone, this is actually really turning into a nice quiet moment for me, and I get to do my chores peacefully and quietly.
That's when I hear my door trying to open, which I ignore, and then I hear paper rustling under the door. A note from Aislee:

mom wus it me Easton
or Lewis or DaD
and are you (picture of a frowny face with tears) I love you

I write back:

Thanks Ais, I love you too. I'm ok, I just need to be in time out for a bit.

Another note:

You wrnt Being meen
wiy are you in time out wy are you Sad.
I love you. (the o's are replaced with hearts)

My reply:
I yelled, so I put myself in time out. I'm not sad, just frustrated. So I'm calming down. Love you.

Her reply:

Your Qute.

Then another note:

I am the mom Go to time out
Jest tiesing
You can do wut you want to do
I love you

I wrote: You make me (picture of a smiley face) then I let her in, and hurry and locked the door behind her.


Moral of my story. Meltdown's can sometimes turn into great things. And also, I'm an honest blogger, and this is an honest life moment. Also, when Aislee calls me after she's had kids and cries because she had a meltdown or feels like she's going to go crazy, I'm going to pull out my blurb blog book, and this entry will be bookmarked and I'll read it to her, and I bet ya it will make her smile and help her feel normal. And maybe I can read this soon and laugh. And maybe it will help someone else laugh today.
My life is wonderful, even my crazy moments.

And if only kids knew how wonderful time out really is!!

Easton's Preschool Program and Water Party

I LOVE Easton's preschool, and so glad he loves it. He goes with his best friend Halle, and his best buds Connor and Braden. They did a short program and then they got to have a water party with a water slide, and popcorn and lemonade. Last night Easton sang us all the nursery rhymes he learned and it was so cute!

Our In Town Garden

We are lucky to be able to plant a garden at an old historical home in St. George. We share the duties and the harvest with our wonderful neighbors. Last year was a success with plenty of zuchhini, squash, and peppers to last a lifetime. We also got cucumbers, cantaloupe, a few beans, and pumpkins in August!! Our tomato plants were beautiful but never produced any fruit..probably because of the heat. My onions are finally growing, which were planted over a year ago! The kids love going and playing and can't wait to see what the garden will bring this year!

Aislees First Dance Recital

Aislee and her best friend Brynlee!

Best Buds!

The cute neighborhood girls! Madison, Chloe, Ais, Sofie, and Brynlee! It was so fun watching them!

Easton gets tubes in his ears

A few friends have made comments about the way Easton talks...and at first I was defensive and thought there is nothing wrong with my kid...but then after hearing multiple stories of speech problems having to do with hearing...I thought it might be smart to get him checked out. And he hasn't had a lot of ear infections, which is a common indicator of something wrong. So, we first went to the Hearing and Balance specialist...and great news...no hearing loss. BUT, he did fail a couple hearing tests indicating that he might have fluid in his ears. They wanted me to go see his regular doctor, be put on antiobiotics and then come back and take the tests again. If he did still fail the tests, they would refer me to an ENT doctor. Well, I bypassed all that trouble and went straight to the ENT doc. He looked real deep into his ears and said...it looks like he has really thick fluid and his eardrums are enlarged which also indicates fluid. So, we scheduled the surgery. We were there at 6:45 am. I love those pictures of my cute little bud with his favorite blanket. And of course when you see your child start to get nervous to go back without you, you'll say anything to make them feel better, so I told him I would take him to Target (his favorite place) to pick out a toy when he got done. They took him back...he cried...my heart broke...and then what felt like minutes later...they called me back to get him. It is so hard/weird/AND funny to see your child on drugs like that. He was so loopy. The Doctor told me he had thick fluid like goo that he drained out, so it's been like he's had ear plugs in for we don't know how long. Poor bud. The first thing he said was...let's go to Target. So, we left at 8:10 (fast hu?) and waited in the Target parking lot a minute to make sure he was okay. He was still really really drugged. So it was pretty funny. And Easton could seriously spend HOURS in a toy store, he looks at EVERY SINGLE toy. So, being on drugs even made it more difficult, but we did get out of there after about an hour! And, Daddy couldn't say no when Easton asked "Pretty Please can I get 3 Star Wars guys?"

We can't wait to see what it does for him and his speech. He keeps telling us how loud everything is, and he whips his head around everytime he hears any background noise. He even heard an ambulance siren when we were in the Target parking lot from far away, so we waited until it drove by. He thought that was pretty cool. I LOVE you East!

Aislee Can Do a Back-Handspring!!!!!

So, all of a sudden today Aislee whips out a round off back handspring--on her own. Me and Brian have been spotting her for about a week now...and today I guess she decided she didn't need our help anymore. She's a brave little sucker. It freaks me out. Just a minute ago she begged me to let her do another one...then she layed on the floor, closed her eyes, and said "that was so fuuuun". Which reminds me of another story. Last night after she came home from gymnastics...she brushed her teeth and went straight into her bed...I checked on her to make sure she was okay after like 10 minutes....and she said "Mom, I'm trying so hard to go to sleep but I keep picturing in my head doing back handsprings and I'm too excited to go to sleep." So...I think her next goal is Summer 2020 Olympics!! Go Aislee!





And yes, that's Easton in the background...pretending he's either a dog, a star wars storm trooper, or a caterpillar!

A Trip to Zions

We had a great couple of days visiting Zions National Park with my family (minus Julie's--missed you Ju, Chris, Owen, Liv, and baby Evan).
It was a lot of fun. Little on the chilly side...but much rather have it that way then blasted hot. The first day Brian and Lewis didn't come with us. Aislee and Easton were troopers hiking the 3+ miles to the Emerald Pools-which looks so different from when I was little. We had ice cream at the lodge and of course I brought fanny packs (just like when I was little) full of snacks to keep the kids (especially Easton) entertained.
It was beautiful! My favorite would have to have been the walk up to the Narrows. The kids found a huge rock to slide down. And those cliff walls are incredible. Just like Lake Powell-but without the water. The narrows were closed because of the water situation, but it still was fun. I also loved the view of Weeping Rock.
I WISH I had a picture of the CATERPILLARS. They were EVERYWHERE..No exaggeration...EVERYWHERE. Walking from the car to the Visitors Center was like crunch crunch crunch. You couldn't help but step on them. We had to look straight, plug our ears and run. Funny thing was at first when we saw them we were like...Oh..cute...then by the end of the day all the kids screamed when we saw them and started bawling!! Especially Bremen and Mylee.

Blurb Book--DONE. New Books Starts Here.

I finally made my blog into a book--my family journal. It was easier than I thought. Things I learned/would like to improve on:
Journaling more.
Posting even if there aren't pictures.
Post more frequently.
Interview my kids about there favorite things at the moment...post it.
More pictures of myself on my blog (even though I hate too)
Go Private.
Don't waste my time on videos or slideshows...they won't show up in my book.
Family is the only important thing in life! Document our memories.

Aislee's Walkover

Aislee was checkin out our blog and she found the video of her backbend kickover...and said..."I can do better than that"...and insisted that we video an update of her doing a backwalkover...so here it is!

Aislee's First Gymnastics Competition

Aislee had her first gymnastics competition last weekend...and it was so fun! She has worked so hard at getting all her routines down to perform in front of judges! She loves all the events...but Bars and Floor are her favorites. She took 2nd place overall! Good job Ais....we are so proud of you! She has two more competitions in June...so we are looking forward to those!