"I don't know?"

Ever since Taylor was a baby he has been a "thinker". He didn't learn to talk for a long time. I remember he used to call Robert, Joanna, and James the same name which didn't sound like any of their names. I remember one day he all of a sudden said all three names as clear as can be. I think he just didn't want to say them before. He was such a good baby sitting in his high chair for hours "thinking" that I used to tell Lynn that it was too good to be true how good he was.

Taylor continues to be a deep thinker but now that he can talk he asks questions about what he is thinking. I can't tell you how many times I have answered his questions with an honest, "I don't know?" I try to change my intonation a little everytime I answer him so it doesn't sound like a broken record. A few times I have attempted to say ,"we should research and find the answer huh?" He knows that means I am actually interested in finding out the answer to that question and wish he would research it and tell me.

One question I remember Taylor asking as a toddler was ,"how do birds go to the bathroom?" Now his questions are more like, "do you think this is what Hitler looks like now?" as he is holding a scary Halloween skeleton? The other day I finally got the question that I have been dreading since Taylor began asking questions. "Mom, if you have been to school and graduated from college, how come you don't know the questions that I ask when I'm in 4th grade?" I of course laughed and replied with, "I DON'T KNOW!"

dog training

As if training 6 kids isn't enough Lynn and I are now going to dog training classes! We decided if we take the time to train the dog correctly the dividends will be very worth it. As we have been learning things and watching the dog respond so quickly to treats and praise , I can't help but correlate everything to training kids. I am realizing more and more how true that statement is with kids as well. I wish I were better at immediate treats and praise with my wonderful kids.

I've read a lot of parenting books lately and I have to recommend Glenn Latham's "power of positive parenting" as one of my favorite. It really is a powerful method to be positive and praise. I wish it were as easy as it sounds. I could relate to one of the moms in the book when she said there was a time when the only praise she could think of for her teenage son was that he was breathing really well! I love that!

I am learning a lot about life, marriage, and parenting and hopefully I will get some of it down before my Kyle turns into a teenager. I had to laugh at Lynn's prayer this morning when he blessed that we could learn to challenge Kyle's stubborness into the right direction.

Right now I am taking one day at a time and trying not to say everything I think like, "do I have to pay for this cap and gown right now or can we wait until it is closer to graduation to see if he is really going to graduate?"

Back to teaching

I realized my last blog was the night before I ran the half marathon. I'm sure I left you all hanging as to whether I finished the race which I was I haven't written for two months! Well, to diffuse all rumor, I did finish the race and actually had an enjoyable time. It didn't take me quite two months to recover. As to why I haven't written for so long there are lots of excuses but let's sum it up into one word of STRESS. Raising kids is stressful. I'm sure you already know that so I won't elaborate more than that.

I will say that one excuse is that I have started teaching preschool on M, W, and F mornings which has complicated my life even more. I now feel proud of myself if I get breakfast dishes done before dinner time let alone make dinner . I'm not proud of this next story but I will say I am proud of my husband for being so understanding. The other night Lynn got home just in time for the two of us to go to dog training class. I said to him "please tell me you had a late lunch because I don't have anything for dinner?" Unfortunately, the answer was that he didn't have any lunch. I decided to rummage through the fridge and find some leftovers, heat them up and drive so he could eat. As he was trying to eat he finally said "what is this?" to which I responded "chili". I then looked more closely and realized I had heated up plain spaghetti sauce (with meat mind you). So, there is probably one of the worst things I have offered Lynn. I won't open this up for anyone to remind me of the other bad dinners I have offered. Dinner isn't my strong point but I am really good at breakfasts! Too bad Lynn doesn't eat breakfast very often.

Back to teaching. A few weeks into teaching 11 four year olds by myself for 2 1/2 hours I wondered what in the heck I had gotten myself into! Fortunately, I remembered that the beginning of the year is always hard and I am happy to report that things are getting better. I do have a good class but the boys like to challenge me in every way. Kyle goes to the class that starts just before mine. He loves it and it makes it worth it.

Don't tell the kids

I'm not sure what to think of my parenting skills when my 4 yr. old sees me get ice cream out of the fridge during lunch when everyone else is at school and he says, "good idea, we won't tell the other kids that we had some because they will all start begging and bugging us!"

Can you believe that I can actually get a treat out of the freezer and only share with one child? I may be gaining a lot of weight soon so keep an eye on me.

good news/bad news

I'll go with the good news first. Robert's right index finger which he almost severed completely last Saturday splitting wood with a wood splitter looks good (according to the Dr.) According to me, I wanted to throw up! (I will spare you the picture)
The Dr. said ,however ,when he changed the bandage on Monday that he was worried it might be black which meanstthey would have had to amputate it.

The bad news is the day after Robert cut his finger Dallin broke his wrist. Or should I say James helped Dallin break his wrist (not on purpose of course) Let's just say James forgot that he was playing tackle football with his 7 yr. old brother not his team mates!

I'm a little worried as I know usually bad things happen in groups of three!

I am thankful I wasn't home during Robert's accident and that Lynn had to take care of it. I was actually getting a massage and told the massage lady that I was going to leave my phone in the car and hope my teenager follows through on what he was supposed to do to earn the money he desperately needs by splitting wood. Right when I got done with my massage I found out Robert was in the emergency room and went back in and told my massage therapist I needed another massage already!

Pinewood Derby time!

The smile on Taylor's face says it all. He won 1st place at the pinewood derby this year. Last year they had a raingutter rangatta instead of a pinewood derby and he didn't even make it to the finals. He said "dad isn't very good at helping me with boats but he is really good with cars!" Lynn is amazing when it comes to pinewood derby cars. We had just watched the movie "Down and Derby" last week and had a good time laughing about that funny movie. Lynn didn't have a lot of time to spend helping Taylor but I guess it was enough! Taylor was disappointed when he found out his trophy was made of plastic and not real gold but it is still in a coveted place in his room for him to enjoy.

Bear Lake 2009

We are so grateful to Lynn's boss for letting us use his boat this year for Bear Lake. It spoiled us rotten. Robert was pretty stressed out when he had to help launch the boat but he did great! No scratches, Craig!

It was different this year to be at Bear Lake without Bob and Vickie, Rick and Teressa, Dave and Amy and kids. We missed them. Grandpa, James made sure Lynn flipped the pancakes the way you taught him too and we made Bear Lake toast. We had fun with some one on one time with Lynn's brother Kent and Janie and their kids. We had a blast and was grateful for good weather. This picture is a bike we rented at the Koa in Garden City where we stayed.

All the kids enjoyed the boat, the beach, and the Koa cabin that we stayed at. We hadn't prepped them as good as we should have about the cabin, however, as they commented they thought it was going to be like Rick and Teressa's cabin in Timber Lakes! No, it was a cabin with enough beds for most of us to sleep on, the other two slept on the floor and that was it! It beat tenting it by far and I loved that there weren'tany mosquitos or flies. We had campfires every night which is my favorite.

We had a blast going to the pickleville playhouse play entitled "the Hanging of Bandito" It was hilarious! I didn't get any pictures of it but it was one of our highlights.

This is a random picture of when you get to the end of summer and you are so bored you start dressing up and being more creative! Thank heavens for Joanna who instigated this but is old enough she doesn't have to dress up.

The Big Race

Here is a picture of us after the race. There were around 50 of my family who ended up running in the race. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705317819/Lee-Benson-On-the-run-in-honor-of-Grant.html This is an article written about the race we ran on the 24th of July. I was so proud of everyone. Robert ran the 10k with me and even though he hadn't trained at all was able to go the whole time without stopping. James had to work hard to beat Dallin who we are finding out is quite the jogger! It was a fun day and I was happy to be a part of getting my family in shape as well as honor my nephew Grant (and my dad Grant)

Lynn and Emma would rather ride motorcycles than run!

Iam planning on doing the Provo trail half marathon tomorrow and I am scared and wondering why in the world I caved to actually paying money to run? I can't figure it out but maybe after tomorrow I will.

summer is flying by

Family picture are getting harder and harder to come by with everyone going a million directions. We actually all went together to the Manti Pageant and took my mom also. Everyone was excited except for one person. (I'll let you guess who from looking at the picture). We enjoyed it even though it rained during the pageant. It was funny watching the performers slip on the slippery, wet, hill.

The kids are enjoying the motorcycles that Lynn borrowed from Craig for the 4th of July. When I get tired of mowing all this grass I remember that a big yard is nice for other reasons. The kids have been riding in circles in the backyard and so far the fence has survived!

This little green bike was given to us from Lynn's sister Teressa after her two boys learned to ride bikes on it. It has now been through each one of our kids and was an emotional moment when I realized my baby knows how to ride a bike. He is a crazy man and the tires on this bike are pretty bare after going through that many kids!

Joanna has her smile back after getting her cast off and turning 14! She is super excited because she found out she gets to have a cell phone soon.

After going to physical therapy for her foot the Dr. said she finally has full motion in her foot and she is hardly limping anymore. Good News!

Finally, Midway is hot enough to have water parties. It's about time!

Back to teaching (for money)

After hanging up my teaching career for a stay at home mom it is hard to believe that I am at a stage where I can teach again. I decided to apply for a preschool teaching position so that I could get Kyle into a preschool and earn a little money as well. I found out yesterday I got the job. It is an ideal situation as Kyle will go to school the same time I am teaching but he won't be in my class. It is 3 times a week and I think will be perfect. I am excited and yet scared after being out of the work scene for so long. The lady who hired me was Taylor's preschool teacher and he really loved her. She is a very nice lady and I am excited to work with her. I feel lucky to have the job in this economy. I think Kyle is going to love school. He always wants to go when I drop Dallin off for kindergarten.
I am recovering from my nasel surgery and had my follow up appointment today. It is still too early for me to know if I'm glad I didn't it yet. I have been given the ok to start jogging again and after 2 weeks break I am scared to see how much harder it is going to be.

Poor Joanna is getting sick of crutches and was very disappointed when she found out she has to go into a walking boot for two weeks after the cast gets off. I guess we were both a little naive to think she was going to walk out of the office with her shoes after getting her cast, when she hasn't used her foot for that long.

Its hard to believe it is that time of year where it seems like I'm packing a lunch for my kids every day for a fieldtrip or I am going to a program or I have to feed good breakfasts because of core testing! Now we also have to start mowing the grass and taking care of the yard but the thing I hate most about May is the stress Lynn is under to get all the pools up and running by memorial day. He is swamped but handling it ok so far.

Easter

Our digital camera is broken so my blogs are very boring without pictures to accompany. Sorry. Hopefully we will get a new one soon. Easter was fun this year. Kyle was so excited about getting candy that he couldn't get to sleep until after midnight! The easter bunny hid everyones baskets this year and it was fun watching the kids running around trying to find them. Roberts was hidden in a place that was hot and his chocolate bunny was melted. He was ok with putting in the freezer and eating it later but he wasn't too happy with the Easter bunny when he realized the solid chocolate bunny was sugar free! The Easter bunny must have known mom is stressed about dentist appointments coming up. That was sure nice of him to think of that! The kids weren't happy about having to put the candy away and have to go to church on Easter until I reminded them about what Easter was about.
We had a nice Easter dinner and egg hunt at my moms house after church with a lot of my siblings and their families. It was fun and an enjoyable day and very hard for the kids to have to face school the next day after having a week break. Joanna was especially stressed having to go with her crutches but she survived and is relieved she doesn't have to keep telling everyone what happened. She doesn't like attention.

B-day

About 8-10 years ago Lynn gave me a coupon for a professional massage . When I got done I knew that he had made a mistake because I loved it and would forever want one. My massage lady offers a discount during your b-day month so for many years that is what I have gotten for my b-day. When I leave she always says "see you next year!"
Well, a few weeks ago I bought myself some new summer pajamas so Lynn wouldn't tease me that I go to bed in my armour all year long. I was going to just wear them and then I thought maybe the kids would like to give me something for my b-day since the massage isn't a present that you can open. So, I put them away. I have bought myself a present before and told Lynn that if he wanted the kids to give me something I bought myself something and showed him where it was. It has never actually made it into a gift bag and been given to me so this year I put the pj's in a gift bag and handed them to Joanna saying that she could tell the kids these are from them and give it to me for my b-day. She ended up having her cousin come over and she forgot all about it. A few days after my b-day she all of a sudden said, "Oh, I forgot about that present." My question to everyone is this? Am I the only weird person who buys themself a b-day present year after year and a few days after their birthday pulls it out to use it, promising themself they will not do this again and then next year does the same thing? Please tell me I'm not and next April will someone please remind me NOT to buy myself a b-day present!

I fortunately didn't even miss the present as I had a wonderful b-day because while I was getting my massage Lynn and the kids were home making dinner and a cake. We ate dinner all together as a family (miracle) and though Robert told me he was going to leave after dinner to play with his friends he actually stayed and did the thing he hates the most and I love the most which is play pictionary! He was obnoxious to the bitter end and even I was glad when the game was over. But it was the best present I could have been given, to not have to make dinner and to be together with all my family playing a game.

I've got to go as I lost track of time and forgot to pick up Joanna at the bus stop and so she had to walk on crutches in this blizzard. oops. Luckily she was smiling as she walked in the door covered in snow.

annoying phone calls!

I am asking for anyone's help regarding how to get rid of two annoying phone calls (a credit card and auto warranty) who have somehow got my number and call almost once a day for several months now! For many months I would just hang up as soon as I heard the computer, then when they wouldn't stop calling I finally listened and pushed #2 which supposedly took me off their list. When that didn't help anything I finally pushed #1 and talked to a representative. The first person I talked to was very nice and told me she would take my number off her list but I would still get calls because more than one location obviously has my number on their list. After that whenever I get the call I push #1 to try and tell the person to take me off their list. The first two times I admit I was rude and they hung up on my within seconds. The last two times I wasn't even rude and they hung up on me as soon as I asked them their name. I am fit to be tied!
I have tempered over the years and though I could always use improvement I am more mellow. For instance, it is snowing so hard right now outside on Apr. 15th but I'm fine about it. I have been very proud of myself in that I have finally learned to control myself when it comes to saying those 3 swear words I used to say, but this situation is pushing me to my limit! I'm afraid those 3 swear words and a lot more are going to come out in a big way if these two companies don't stop calling me. My sister said she asked for a manager once to try and get her name off the list and even the manager hung up on her. There has got to be something that can be done but I don't know what. I'm about ready to call Gephardt but I don't know if he can even help. Please tell me that someone knows a simple solution to helping me keep my sanity. Is there a number that can be called to report something like this? I hope that some of you have avoided these annoying companies but I have a hunch that many of you are experiencing the same thing. Any suggestions anyone?

Spring break

Joanna had her foot surgery this morning and things went well. The Dr. said the tendon wasn't attached properly and so he reattached the tendon and tightened it up. Joanna did well. She was so nervous that she would say stupid things when she was loopy and coming out of the medicine. I had to laugh that she really dumb say something stupid because she said, "maybe I do like surgery." Aren't we grateful for medicine!
The physical therapist who taught her how to use crutches said she was a natural which is a good thing because crutches are going to be her best friend for 6 weeks.
We had a fun day yesterday taking all the kids to S.L. and exploring the Gateway and temple square. We saw the movie "Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the restoration" and really enjoyed it. It was quite a momentous occasion that we went exploring all day without a stroller! It's so weird to actually start believing when people say your kids grow up fast. I would hold time right here for awhile if I could.
I better go feed my kids since I have to be a real mom without Joanna's help!

Robert's latest

Robert started breaking out in hives on his face the day before Prom. Thank heavens for Zyrtec as it controlled it and he was going to freak out if he had hives on his face. Well, little did he know that hives would have been mild compared to road burn. You, guessed it. After being grounded for 2 weeks the freedom was a little more than he could handle and he went a little wild. He was riding a small motorcycle with a bicycle helmet when he wiped out. One side of his face, his ear, and his shoulder and arm took all his weight. This happened right before he had to go pick up his date for the Fri. night festivities. All in all he handled it fine and his friends helped him think it was cool and to not try and hide it in the pictures. Our camera isn't working or I would post a picture. Who knows if he'll ever show me the professional pictures when he gets them.
Let's say he used his week-end to the full advantage and had fun, blowing off the few things he was supposed to do (like attendance school, church, dancing with me, and getting in at a decent time on Sun morning). We were beginning to think Satan might win about stopping Robert from getting his patriarchal blessing on Sunday but in the end he didn't! He received a wonderful blessing from our Patriarch Kyle Probst who doesn't know Robert at all but has been a lifetime friend of the Remunds and we kind of named Kyle after him. He has been a patriarch so long that Robert was his 1,562nd blessing! Bro. Probst took a long time talking to us before the blessing and Lynn mentioned that my dad was a patriarch. After the blessing Bro. Probst said that he felt my dad was able to help with that blessing. I won't say much about the blessing but I do have to say that apparently Robert fought hard for the principle of agency before he came here and he is still fighting for that principle today! That is a good thing as long as his energy is channelled in the right direction. It was neat for Robert to see that it wasn't Bro. Probst talking to him but someone who knows him better than Robert knows himself. It was a very neat experience and we are proud of Robert.

More Surgery

Well, we heard back from Joanna's foot Dr. and the news isn't good. They have determined that she has the tendonitis due to a tear in her main tendon and the only thing to fix it is surgery. The success rate on the surgery is good which is nice to hear. The bad part is that she will not be able to put any weight on her foot for 6 weeks! We have decided to do it during our spring break so she won't have to miss a week of school and so that she will be out of the cast and crutches when summer comes. The surgery is scheduled for Apr. 7. She is nervous but will do great I'm sure.

spring fever

I have spring fever bad. I am tired of snow, cold, and sickness which seems to come with the cold. We have been hit hard lately and the only people who haven't got sick yet is my skinny little Taylor (who seems like he would be the one who catches everything), and Lynn. I haven't decided if Lynn hasn't got sick because he can't afford to and is being blessed or if it is because he hasn't been home enough to actually catch the bug. When Robert was sick he refused to go to the Dr. appointment I made for him saying that he had had strep before and he didn't think this was it. After missing school for a few days (which isn't a good thing) he finally forced himself back and slowly started to get better. When Joanna started in with it I assumed she had the same thing as Robert and didn't take her to the Dr. until 5 days into it when she was still really sick. I took her to the instacare on Sat. and the rapid strep test came back negative. She was sent back home with no medicine help. Then on Sun. the Dr. called back saying the lab results showed positive and they finally called in an antiobiotic for her. Know James is home sick today and the Drs. office had mercy on me and didn't make me bring him in but called in a prescription. That was nice since I recently was doing the finances and figured out that since the beginning of the year I have been to the Dr. office for myself or the kids 10 times which costs $300. Then prescriptions and medicines have totaled $440 dollars, the dentist for Robert was $266 and Lynn's endoscopy cost $1,000. That is not including the money we pay each month to have health insurance! I'm sure everyone feels the same way right now that it is expensive to live and breathe and I feel grateful we don't have to deal with very many chronic health problems like many of you do.

Ithought I would briefly catch you up on everyone and what is going on.

Robert
He refused to wear green on St. patricks day. He threatened all the kids to not touch him. We all wanted to gang up and pinch away but I have to admit he is strong and big now and we didn't dare do it until dad got home. When dad got home I counted to three and we all charged but he still got away down the stairs before us and I called everyone off and decided we better not rock the boat with an ornary teenager. We let him get away without getting pinched this year but it won't happen again.
Jr. Prom is this Sat. His first experience to actually go to a nice dance where he has to pay. I told him I would pay for the tux, flowers, and pictures and the rest was his responsibility. I have to say he has been ingenius in saving for this occasion. Last night he admitted to not eating lunch for awhile so he could save his lunch money and to picking up change at the High School after kids have what they call "money wars". (My dad always taught me there was no thing as a free lunch but Robert may prove him wrong.) He is excited to take the money to Smith's and get it cashed into bills! I guess getting a job is just too boring.
Robert never does anything part way. The Jr. prom plans are as followed. On Fri. they are taking their dates horseback riding and then having a nice steak dinner at one of his friends mansion homes. Then on Sat. morning Robert has to attend attendance school from 6:00 a.m. -9:00 and then they are making breakfast for their dates at another friends house. That day they are taking it easy until time for dinner at Rodizio Grill which they will go to in a limo. At the dance parents are invited to come and watch the promenade (which Robert refuses to do) but has consensted to dancing with me during the parents dance. So, Lynn and I will get to see him and his date at the dance for a few minutes! Wow, Jr. prom sure has changed from when I went.

If Robert survives the weekend and is able to get out of bed we are excited about the fact that he will be getting his patriarchal blessing on Sun. He still has a lot to do to catch up on school before midterms on Fri. He doesn't seem to think we are helping him by grounding him the last two weeks from any electronical equipment and friends, but we assure him we are helping him!

Joanna
Joanns is finishing up her last volleyball tournament this Sat. She has enjoyed it and I think will try out for the volleyball team at the High school next year.
She had an injury over 4 years ago on her foot . The x-ray didn't show anything but her foot has always been weak and sensitive ever since. We decided to take her to a foot dr. who suggested an MRI. The MRI showed significant tendanitis and a possible tear. I wonder what an MRI would have showed after the accident! The poor thing has probably thought it was normal to always have pain in your foot. So, the Dr. wants to confer with another Dr. and we are waiting to see if there is anything they are going to suggest to help her.

James
He got a b-b gun for his b-day and took the hunter safety class. He loved it and is ready to go shoot! He assures me that he still likes his gun but that he is saving up for a 22 now. Wow, he wasn't passified with the small gun for long!

Taylor
Turns 9 tomorrow. He is having a friend party and they are getting in the hot tub. He is way excited and we are hoping he stays healthy for at least one more day!
I am thrilled to have one child who actually keeps his room clean. He loves his space room and takes pride in it and I love that.

Dallin
Dallin loves kindergarten. He hates to miss school when he is sick. Last week he coughed so hard in the night that he threw up 3 times. He is still on two preventative medicines for his asthma which has helped him keep that under control but he still has a tendancy to get coughs so easily. He is toothless and cute.

Kyle
He is as darling as ever and growing up fast. His thoughts our on Hawaii most days and he always asks when Grandpa and Grandma are coming home or when we are going to see them. I don't have the heart to tell him the Hawaii fund is being taken over by the medical fund so we just keep hoping someday we can start saving for Hawaii.

Lynn is hanging in there. Busy as usual. He just completed his first 50 mile motorcycle race in St. George which he loved and which is his stress reliever.

I keep busy with every day life. I have enjoyed teaching R.S. once a month and still do activity day for the primary age girls that are 10-11. The last few months I had been having a weird thing happen where in a split second my air supply is cut off and I can hardly breathe for 30-60 seconds. I finally decided to find out about it and am happy to find out that though it feels like I am going to die it is nothing dangerous. It is called laryngospasms and for some reason my vocal chords have spasms and cover my wind pipe temporarily. It can happen if you breathe wrong when you are eating or if air, saliva or acid (from acid reflux) gets on the vocal chords.
As I was at the Ear, nose, and throat specialist I decided to look into why I can never breathe through my nose and he said I have a deviated septum which can be taken care of with surgery. He wants me to try nose drops for a month before I decide for sure. So far they haven't helped and I can't even feel the spray going in. If I decide to do the surgery I am excited to be able to kiss Lynn for longer than 30 seconds without having to pull away for air, I am excited to be able to breathe easier when exercising and I am excited to have more of an air supply to my brain! I need all the help I can get.

coming back to reality

Lynn is the 2nd one from the right.

As all of you know it isn't easy coming back from a vacation. Even though the weather didn't improve much in the Bahamas we still did most everything we planned on doing. We were thankful for the wet suits that they made us wear when we swam with the Dolphins. It was fun and my favorite part. Lynn of course enjoyed the thrill adventure of feeding sharks and I was grateful I wasn't certified in scuba diving so that I could pass on that adventure. Lynn said it was intense and they were all folding their arms because the instructor told them to do that so a shark wouldn't think there arms were food and bite.

I enjoyed jogging on the beach especially when it was yecky weather and only me and a handful of people were out there! Lynn ended up having to fly to Orlando for a conference when it was time to go so I came home with the rest of the group.

When I came back home I was pleased to find out the kids did well and there weren't any major issues. Our babysitters were awesome and we appreciated their help! Robert had a hey day while we were gone especially when the kids were on there own on Sunday and Monday. I was a TAD frustrated when I got in the suburban and saw at least 50 items of leftover snowclothes and equipment. I began chucking them into a huge pile in the garage. When I got to the skis even I recognized that those were a nice pair of skis and I controlled myself enough to set them down nicely. I then had a talk with Robert that IF he is going to sluff school and take our Suburban to go snowboarding with his friends it might be a good idea to at least try to hide the evidence next time! (please tell me I'm not the only mom that has had to teach such an obvious thing)

He tried to explain to me that ANY teenager is going to go a little crazy when there parents are gone! He usually tries to get my sympathy by reminding me what I used to do when I was a teenager, but after always answering him that I never did any of those things when I was a teenager he has finally stopped saying that and has just concluded that I was THE most boring teenager ever. My parents must have been grateful to have such a boring teenager!

Bahamas

Yes, that is a sweater and long pants I am wearing. Bahamas is having an unusual cold spell! The beaches and pools are literally empty. It is so weird to see the beautiful beach with no one on it. At least we can say we are in warmer weather than where we live which isn't the case for a lot of the people here.

We still braved the cold (since we had wet suits) and swam with the dolphins yesterday. That was fun. I was suppose to kiss the dolphin Sasha and apparently I didn't smack at the end of my kiss. Everyone was teasing me and I admitted I wasn't the best kisser. Lynn said "Sasha I know how you feel."

Lynn is heading out right now to go diving and he is hoping it won't be cancelled. I think I'm going to go have a jog on the beach. This place is beautiful. They have huge aquariums with all kinds of fish that you can see as you walk through tunnels. That is my style, looking at the fish without having to get cold or wet, or taking a chance of touching them.! We got to see when it was feeding time for the eels. The sharks and stinging rays were real cool.

We are missing James b-day today. Happy 11th buddy. We love you. We gave him a beebee gun(sp?) for his b-day and left with the warning not to shoot his eye out while we are gone.

Lynn's cousin Jeff and his wife are helping tend for us along with my nephew Marcus and his wife Natalie. We are hoping they will still want children after they are done!

We are hoping for better weather tomorrow so we can actually get in the water. I obviously didn't bring enough long pants if it doesn't warm up.

Read the fine Print

Last week I went to renew my Drivers License. I was in a hurry (as usual) and finished filling out the paperwork while standing in line. Needless to say I didn’t read the questions very well. When I got ready to get my picture the lady asked me to look over all the stuff and tell her if everything looked ok. I looked it over and asked her why the expiration date was one year instead of 4 years away. She said that was because I had answered yes to the question about me being registered as a sex offender! I quickly cleared up that I wasn’t and that I had not read the questions carefully enough. When I looked at it again it had asked if I was honest in my answers to the following question. I assumed that it was asking me if I had been honest in my previous questions and that’s why I had answered yes. I never even read the following question. So, I thankfully caught the mistake before it went on my records and I learned my lesson to not skim important documents! Needles to say, I was a little flustered and my picture turned out terrible. It was wonderful that I could ask her if she could redo it. She must have thought I was a dork. I felt like one.

Taking care of the esophagus

Lynn had to go get an endoscopy yesterday because he has a disease called eosinophilic esophagitis (EE) which causes him to get food stuck in his food pipe. This can be really dangerous if it were to get stuck bad enough to tear the esophagus. So, Lynn consensted to my insistance that he get it taken care of. When we were checking in I asked the lady if this was the same place that they did the colonoscopy's. She answered yes but assured me that they were really careful to work on the right end! I thought that was really nice to know and would recommend coming to Utah Valley Hospital if you ever need an endoscopy and don't want to take a chance of getting a colonoscopy.
The Dr. said they were able to stretch 2 out of the 3 rings (or areas) of the esophageous to almost normal but the upper area they couldn't get it stretched as much as they wanted so they want to do the procedure again in a couple of months. They have him on acid reflux medicine along with an asthma medicine that he swallows instead of breathing it into his lungs.
Ironically enough Lynn's first cousin (Jeff's) son has just been diagnosed with this same problem.

Have you ever been treed before?

The picture above is of five trees that were placed on our front yard a few days after Christmas. Lynn thought it would be funny to go out and torch each one. As you can see he is on his last tree. He didn't let us know he was going to go be a pyro we found out from the neighbor who thought our house was on fire. Men are so weird. I guess Lynn's thinking was that it will be easier to get rid of tree stumps instead of the whole tree. I think it was just an excuse to play with fire.

Jazz game at its finest

Wow, what a fun night we had last night at the Jazz game with tickets from Craig. We were so close you could see the players sweat, hear what they said, and read their tatoos. I had Lynn take pictures of Kyle Korver and had fun yelling for him when I knew he could hear it. The girl we went with yelled with me and we are pretty sure we got a smile out of it. I'm wondering if it is just me who thinks he is cute or if the selection of cute players is so bad that we think Kyle is cute? Comments?

A game will never be the same again after being this spoiled. Check out the laminated tickets hanging on Lynn's neck. From the price tag I thought we might go home with furniture or something but we just went home with candy, a really full stomach, and a fun night.

Joanna

Joanna's Young Women's leader made each of the beehives a darling hat. We don't know what her hair looks like anymore because she loves to wear it. She is enjoying her club volleyball team that she is doing, but is sad she has to miss church ball for it.

Growing up

Dallin lost his front tooth. If it would have happened a little sooner we could have used it to replace Robert's front tooth. Dallin was thrilled that the tooth fairy showed up the very first night!

Christmas magic

We had a fun Remund Christmas party at our house with the usual present swap game. Everyone seems happy now with what they got now but it was traumatic for some. We kind of forgot to explain to some of the litle boys that what they might open could be a girls gift. You can image the surprise to open a girls gift when you are all boy!

Here is a copy of our song we performed at the Shields family Christmas party. It was sung to the tune of "Oh Christmas Tree"

Oh, Lynn wants more hair to grow,

and Lisa wants less gray to show,

Oh, Robert hates the word no,

and Joanna still goes with the flo,

James can grow a wicked afro,

and Taylors weight is way too low,

Dallin is a rock band pro,

and Kyle likes to eat the snow!

We had a great Christmas. Here we are lining up getting ready to run in and see what Santa left. Everyone is holding their new blankets that Grandma Shields made for them and gave them at our fun Christmas Eve party at her house.

Bedroom swap

Taylor got a new space blanket for Christmas with a lamp and glow in the dark stars. We then redid James and Kyle's old room into a "space" room and Taylor moved in. James got to move downstairs in the "Football" room and though I don't have a picture you can imagine he put our new BYU flag right above his bed. He has wanted to move downstairs for awhile now and already thinks he is a teenager. Joanna is loving not having to go downstairs alone anymore since Robert never goes to bed until later.

For some reason this picture wouldn't turn the right way but this is the planet we painted on Taylor's new bedroom wall and the border is stickers and paint. The kids had a lot of fun helping me do it.

Kyle got to move into Dallin's "dinosaur" room and is liking it!

Dallin is the only one that didn't get to move somewhere new but he is still happy with the volcano he helped paint. On the dresser you can see the banks that Lynn worked hard on making for the kids with 3 separate sections for giving, saving, and spending. They have a lock so we can hopefully manage the money a little better.

Winter finally came

The kids have had a lot of fun playing in the snow this year. I can't believe how much more they have played in the snow since having a dog. Emma follows them everywhere and is so fun to play with. She runs in snow that is deeper than her and it looks so funny. I wish I had a picture of Emma when she went on the sled with Lynn. She is such a good dog. We have been able to let her come inside in the evenings when it gets really cold and she will stay right on her bed. She knows if she gets off she has to go out. So far it has been a good system and Joanna hasn't had an allergic reaction. We sure enjoy our snow blower that we got for Christmas. We had around 18" of snow on Christmas day.

Oldest and Youngest

This is Robert's latest look. Church ball is getting a little too rough. A foul by Robert's best friend was made against Robert which caused him to smack his tooth on the gym floor.
Fortunately we have a dentist in our ward who went and glued it back on at 9:00 that night. He said it still has a 50/50 chance of the tooth dying but since we found the piece and got it glued on before it dried up we might have a chance of it being ok without more work done. I know it wasn't Robert's fault but I couldn't help notice that most people don't chip their front tooth 3 times before they are even 18!

My baby is officially four years old.

He enjoyed making a cake and having breakfast served in bed!

Bad mother moment

One of the reasons I don't update my blog or write e-mails as much as I should is because of the neglect my kids get when I do. Tonight I had Joanna take the Costco cordon bleu chicken out of of the oven and told her to start feeding everyone as I was at the computer. The kids were half way done eating before I realized the chicken wasn't done and they were eating raw chicken. Joanna ate the most because she was trying to be nice and not say the dinner was gross!
So, now the waiting game begins to see if any of my children get sick because I'm a neglectful mom. So, what do I do about it? Go write the experience in my blog and spend more time at the computer. I am weird.