More Pictures

Fevers

The other morning after working in the yard Hyrum came up to me. "Mom, you got a bug on your fevers." And he carefully swiped it away from my forehead.

"I had a bug where?"

"Your fevers, mom."

So I asked him to touch his nose, and he did. I asked him touch his ear, and he did. I asked him to touch his fevers, and he touched his forehead.

So all this time has he been thinking that because he has a forehead he should get to watch t.v.?

Five Favorite Things

1. Game of the Week: Blokus. Brilliant Game. Challenge for me and my kids at the same time. I don't get it but even when I use all my expert strategy, they seem to pull off some amazing upsets.

2. Treat of the Week: Bagels. My boys love bagels.

3. Adventure of the Week: The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. What is it about animals going to the bathroom that can make any trip to see animals a complete success for little boys? The boys saw two black bear cubs up close. One of the cubs kept walking over in front of the boys (they were separated by a electric fence) and sitting down. He seemed content to chomp on grass and stare at the them. . . I wonder who was the more fascinating spectacle?

While there the boys saw Black Bears Wrestling, Brown Bears Bathing, Moose, Cariboo, Deer, Muscox, Bison, Bald Eagle.

4. Surprise of the Week: A hanging flower basket by my door. I have my suspicions. Alaska has to be the hanging flower basket capital of the United States. They are every where and now even I have one of my very own.

5. Best Book of the Week: Peter and the Starcatchers. My favorite part of our summer has been reading to the boys. This week we read through an entire 450 page book. We all loved it. (disclaimer: i'm all about censorship when i read outloud)

Betting

While in Utah in April, Eric and I made a friendly bet on whether a particular store had been in one mall or the other.

Well, let me give you a little history on our betting record. I do NOT bet on something unless I'm 99.9% sure I'm right. Which means? I'm right. I'm always right.

For example, I adore this great man named Henry B. Erying. So I pay particularly close attention to stories that are told about him or his family. A story was recounted about his Father, as a young boy, crossing the Border from Mexic0 back to the United States. The border potrolman asked, "Do you have any pornography?" To which he replied, "Sir, I don't even own a pornographer."

So Eric tell me he thinks that story is about Joseph Fielding Smith. I say, I disagree. A bet insues. I win a 5 lb. bag of Hot Tamales.

#2. The bag of Hot Tamales is LONG gone. Eric is being silly and quoting from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. He believes the interchange between the Candle and the Duster goes as follows, "I've been singed by you before." I disagree. It is "I've been burnt by you before." I get another 5 lb. bag of Hot Tamales.

So, I think it brave of him to bet on whether Deseret Book at been in the Crossroad Plaza or the Zions Center. We walk into the current Deseret Book and ask. I immediately start jumping up and down, high fiving everyone I see. Why? Because I had bet potty training Hyrum. Could there be a better bet in the world? I think not.

Well, it was a foolish bet, because unless your husband can take a week off of work, who ends of potty training? I do. But not to worry, Hyrum was a piece of cake. Eric does insist the he got him emotionally ready for such a big event by giving him daily pep talks while I was still in Utah. If that is true, I need a pep talk for staying on top of the laundry.

So I potty train Hyrum but while doing that laundry thing it is becoming apparent that the toilet paper is not being used to its fullest potential. So at an opportune moment I ask Eric to give some appropriate instruction on the fine art of wiping. I can hear him in the bathroom instructing away: I can hear things like "wad" "reach" "wipe".

The next day I walk into the bathroom. I see Hyrum. He's just gone to the bathroom. He is standing in front of the toliet, holding an imaginary wad of toliet paper, wiping himself with his clothes ON.

I cannot resist. I dial Eric at work and ask, "So when you taught Hyrum how to wipe did you have him practice with his clothes on? Did he actually have toilet paper?"

"Umm. . ."

Further instruction was given. I think for making it through the whole ordeal I should get a few Hot Tamales.

Celiacs

Eric's sister Jill was diagnosed with Celiacs a couple of years ago. We dipped our toe into the "non-gluten/non-wheat world" when she could come over for dinner. Hidden were the loaves of Whole Wheat Bread, the Dings Dongs, the Pizza Rolls. We would do our best be gluten free for a meal (and sorry Aunt Jill. . . about the Soy Sauce . . . we really truly had no idea).

This Spring we found out that Celiacs is genetic. At a routine Physical Eric thought had some bloodwork done. I guess on the Celiac scale, there is no, maybe, and definitely. He was about 5 points past the definitely.

Hmmm. . . How do I feel about this?

Well, beside the huge lifestyle change? I don't have to share my twizzlers anymore. I get the whole pizza to myself. No one is going to eat MY girl scout cookies.

On that note, maybe I should rush the boys in and get them tested too.

(fyi: Eric will have a biopsy and such in July to confirm Celiacs. A few days ago I found him in the pantry with the door closed, shoving a twinkie into his mouth. Eat it while you can buddy!)

Least We Forget

I want to remember these moments.




For years I struggled with the differences between Eric and I, man & woman, husband & wife. I am convinced that most of it steamed out of jealousy. Why could Eric fall asleep with the kids jumping on him? Why was playing XBOX for HOURS considered quality time with our sons? And why did they worship him for it. . .when I went to great efforts to take them hiking, do crafts, read to them? Where was my love? Why when he went to the store did he not have to worry about kids in carts and a stash of treats? Okay, so it was totally jealousy.


But over the years I've come to terms with some of these differences. Eric will never get up in the night because a child is coughing. Why? He'll never be woken up. Eric will never think twice about putting a baby to sleep in the winter in a onesie, when he himself pulls up three blankets over his flannel pjs and sweatshirt. Why? Because it simply won't cross his mind that his baby will be shivering and miserable and cold all night. Eric buys pizza with everything on it. Why? Because that is what he likes. He doesn't have the list in the back of his mind: Christian likes cheese only, Tanner likes Pepperoni, Sam doesn't even like pizza. . . or whatever the case may be.


Simply said, We just think different. Our roles are different.


Our most recent example of these differences happened this weekend. On Sunday Hyrum had a fever and Eric jumped at the chance to stay home from church with him. With eyes locked, I always like to check for coherent listeners, I said, "I'm going to leave Warner home." He said that would be great. I quickly scrambled to the three big boys ready for church and headed out the door.




Three hours later . . .


The house looks exactly the same. Eric and Hyrum are in the exactly same spot, our bed, sound asleep. I looked for evidence of life and movement. There was none.


A few moments later Warner was screaming from his crib. I went and picked him up and quickly noticed that he was sopping wet. About a half a second later I put everything together. The house was exactly the same because a certain someone has slept the entire time, leaving our little 7 month old in his crib, ignoring what were surely cries for breakfast and love. After Warner literally chugged his bottle and then some, I tromped down to our bedroom.


I couldn't resist, "Eric, how was Warner while we were gone?"


Eric: "Warner?"


Steph: "Yah, our littlest son, Warner!"


Eric: "I thought you took him."


Steph: "No, remember, we talked about having him stay home with YOU."


Eric: "Oh yah. I remember now."




Jealous. I'm pure jealous. If I had been the one home, and wondered if Eric had taken Warner with him or not, I would have had to pull my lazy self out of bed and checked the crib just to see if he was in there before I could fall back to sleep. I would have slept light knowing my responsibility. I would have rolled myself out of bed, no matter how tired, no matter how the warmth of the bed begged me to stay, to get and care for my little boy.


Sheer Jealousy.

Summer Time

After my annual summer time reading of Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury, I felt like summer had truly begun and I wanted to capture every minute of it. At the same time I was reading chapters of Mitten Strings For God by Katrina Kenison (thanks Kari for reminding me that this book was on my to read list).

The blending of those two books reaffirmed in my mind that I wanted our kids to live summer. . . to truly live every moment of summer. So we've dug out the football and the basketballs, we've pumped up the bike tires and greased the chains, we've cleaned out the camelbaks and laced up the hiking shoes, we've pulled out the sleeping bags and dusted off the cookstove, we've pulled the blockout blinds and read chapter after chapter and chapter of Fablehaven, we'vd looked at Moose & avoided Bears, we've learned new card games and made all sorts of crazy crafts, AND we've locked up the TV and said goodbye to the XBOX.

My goal is to make it through the entire summer without the TV. I have it on good authority that these painful weaning days will end. That my children will relish the time they have together. That minds will open. That ideas will flow. That summer will run through their veins.

And if not. . . I hear that the Fall Season of PBS looks promising.

Health Update

Hy does not have HF&M. I think he has 3-year-old syndrome. He knows, "MOM, I got fevers." doesn't work with me. So the other day he tried it on his Dad. Eric, not knowing the plotting of our clever 3-year-old, believed him and quickly administered the Tylenol. (Who believes a self diagnosing 3-year-old?) I was basing my judgement of HF&M solely on the assumption that Hy did in fact have a fever and had blisters. Now, I believe he just had an extra does of Tylenol and has blisters on his feet from either new shoes or not wearing his shoes (as the dirty feet indicate). Our Hy is a totally healthy, rambunctious, spunky little character.

H-HF&M

The dirty feet nicely off set the blisters. . . He has three or four on the foot on the right and one on the big toe of the foot on the left. If I were to guess, those blisters partnered with a high fever today can only mean one thing. . . Hy has Hand, Foot & Mouth.

Warner

Something clicked and Warner sat up today on his own. He was playing in the bathroom while I did my hair and then I looked down and he was sitting. Hooray. Our little man is also cutting three teeth right now. He's a trooper. So far so good.

Family Fun to the Rescue

If you don't count our camping trip, today was the first day of Summer Break! The boys had a great morning and played football outside. Then came the all too ordinary statement, "Mom, what can I do?" (My kids have learned not to say that they are bored. That only gets the dishwasher duty, or wiping down the walls, or vacuuming). Tanner was the one to ask the question, so I handed him the FamilyFun Crafts book and had him mark all of the fun things he wanted to make this summer.

With limited craft supplies on hand, I opted for finger puppets this afternoon. I had no idea it was going to be such a big hit. The boys created and played with this project for over three hours. Even Sam and Hyrum got in on the action.

This is "Mrs. Nesbit"

Sam has Superman. Can you tell that he was trying really hard not to close his eyes for the photo?

True to form, Tanner's men had swords, shields, and bags with other weapons.

Baby Moose

This Calf must just be days (if not hours) old. The baby is literally the size of the mother's head (the picture doesn't give you that perspective) Our neighbors say that the mother calves in their yard every year. Today we found them munching on grass and romping around in our cul-de-sac. Good thing we have playgroup at the park tomorrow . . . it should be safer there.

Denali National Park

Memorial Day Weekend 2008

Mount McKinley from Wonder Lake. This is the highest peak in the U.S. at 20,000+ feet. Can you see the grayish Mountains in the foreground? Those mountains remind of the magestic mountains in Utah . . . making McKinley all the more spectacular.



There are so many Lakes in Denali National Park.

Weekend Itinerary:

Friday--All day packing. Do you ever wonder why you have to pack your entire house for a weekend away? And does it ever get easier to pack an entire family for a trip? I seriously spent all morning packing five little boys, myself, the food, the paper products, the entertainment, the emergency entertainment, and all other necessary camping supplies (perk to Alaskan camping is that you don't need lanterns!)

5:00 departure time. . . turned into 6:00 departure time.

The Hopkin family, who we adore, swung by our house and we began our caravan to adventure. We made it about 1 mile down the road before the brakes on their rented motorhome went out. Adventure averted to the Eagle River Campground just three or so miles away.

We spent the evening there. The kids could have cared less if we were five minutes from home or five hours. They played pickle (but with a football rather than a baseball), played down at the river, and giggled in the bed together. Warner woke up at midnight and needed some extra love. It didn't take more than two minutes for me to hop into the van and head home to our warm warm for bottles and comfy crib for him.

Saturday-- With a new rental Motorhome for the Hopkins we 11:00 a.m. leave for Denali National Park. The drive there is spectacular with green pinetrees and aspens and mountains galore.

arrive, set up camp, roast hot dogs, smores, talk until way too late.

sunday--breakfast burritos, attempt to "clean-up" for church. arrive at the heely branch only to discover that church time has been changed from 11:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

with lunches packed, we head into Denali National Park. The visitor center there is really neat and interactive. The boys had a great time working on Junior Ranger packets. They also had backpacks there to check out with binoculars, thermometers, compasses, colored pencils and chalk, postcards, and books, and maps, and much more.

On our drive we say moose and eagles and hawks.

You cannot go camping without tinfoil dinners. YUM! The dutch oven bread was a special treat (thanks Karen!!!) as was the cherry cobbler. The kids loved playing Blink, our family's new favorite game.

Church successfully attended second time around. M. Hopkin's church attire will go down in the record books. Eric said that their smoke filled clothing filled up every inch of the small church building.

Monday--Horseshoe Lake and Pizza in Denali.

I had such a great, great, great, great time. The pop-up trailer was perfect. Our family fits in there with room to spare. One morning I woke up and my feet were cold and frozen . . . so i turned on the heater!!! What luxury.

Alaskan camping: No one goes to bed early. In fact, you stay up later when camping. We never were in bed before midnight. The light is energizing. Also, those late night trips to the bathroom. . . in complete light? No need to fear that something is lurking in the dark. If it is lurking, you'll be able to see it plain as day before it eats your face off. Phew!

Horseshoe Lake

This was our favorite little hike at Denali National Park. Horeshoe Lake, 2 miles round trip, to a beautiful little Lake. The hike was really picturesque with a quaint little path through trees and over little creeks. The kids had a great time and the biggest treats was wading through and playing in the Lake.

Sammy strikes a pose. . . If you dare wear short shorts!

Little Miracles

All great American Hikers wear what? Crocs of course. Our family is no exception, and we proudly support and wear our crocs everywhere. The benefits are numerous. . . no stinky feet, quick dry, even quicker to put on and take off, high fashionable colors, and the knock-offs are only $5 at Wal-Mart. How can you go wrong?



Well, the cute little boy in the picture above was wearing his ever-so-savvy green/lime knock-offs while wading through the Lake. At one point he excitedly jumps from the weeds on the bank into the water. When Zlurp! Poor Tanner comes up with just one shoe. That sounds rather calm. . . but it really was a jump, pounce, run, run, run, then an exclamation, "I only have one shoe!"

We waited for the mud to settle and began our search. We retraced his many footsteps. I finally rolled up my own pants and with my crocs, hesitantly stepped into the cold, cold water to aid in the search and rescue. When toes and feet and legs were numbing and fingers were too cold to grasp, I finally declared that Tanner had two minutes, and if the shoe wasn't found then the famous family saying, "Oh Well" would be put into full force. I asked Tanner if he had thought about saying a prayer. His sweet reply, "Yes, mom, I said one in my heart!"

Well, the two minutes came. The two minutes went. We started gathering and I started to psych Tanner into making the hike back with just one shoe. On his way toward me he reached down and Wallah! pulled out from the zlurp-ish mud his lost croc. (To some this may seem like a simple story of lost of found, but as the mother who almost froze to death digging & feeling through every inch of the mud, it is our own little miracle.) I am always amazed at the faith of little children. They completely trust in God. They believe in miracles. They are examples to ME of righteous reliance and hope.

Sloucher

This is as close as we get to sitting these days. It is a weak and wobbly attempt at best. . . but with the proper distraction it can be maintained for 20 seconds or more!

Eagle River Nature Center

For our Family Night Activity we went to the Eagle River Nature Center. It was a beautiful hike and the kids had a great time romping around.

A True Warner