Quotes

I forgot to mention in my last post some of my favorite quotes of the week.

• "Pick me up. I don't want to be in the poop!" Noah says as he's freaking out about stepping in poop In the petting corall.
• "Tayton, please talk to me!" Noah says in the saddest little voice while driving in the car and she's just looking the other way, out the window.
• "I need one of these," he says as he hands Jon the bottles of chewable vitamin and calcium.  " I don't want to eat paper, toilet paper, books and boxes anymore."  When we catch him eating inappropriate fiber sources, we comment that he needs more vitamins.
• "I like this!" exclaims Tayton about 15 times during our trip to This is the Place Heritage Park

We laugh multiple times a day at the things the kids say, but then I always forget them, so I am trying to do better about writing them down so I don't forget.

Fun Filled Weekend

As usual, it's been a busy and exciting week.  I am not sure there is ever going to be a time when we won't say that.  Life has a way of keeping us busy beyond belief.  Jury is still out in my book of whether that is good or bad.  In the Crane house, due to busy and sometimes unpredictable work schedules, I think busy lives will always be a part of our routine.  Due to the fact that Jon works nights and we don't see each other until the weekends, we are trying to cram good quality family time into our limited weekends.

They finally released my dad from the hospital on Thursday night around 8 pm, so they spent Friday in town.  We went to have lunch with them and visit.  We enjoyed a short visit before they were tired again, so we left them to rest and recuperate.  Them we took a trip to "This is the Place Stare Heritage Park.  We told the kids we could pet baby animals there, so that was the thing they were looking forward to the most.  My parents spoiled us with annual membership  so we can go anytime and enjoy the festivities year round.  Very fun.  We started out on the train, where we got a little historic guided tour of the park.  They pointed out the historic Brigham Young home that was painted pink.  Interesting fact is that pink was a masculine color, until the 1900's when is suddenly became a famine color.  We then got off on the 2nd stop, or the "downtown" area and walked down a bit to have a pony ride.  Both Tayton and Noah got to ride their own horse with one of us walking beside them.  Noah absolutely loved it and Tayton enjoyed it too until the pony snorted twice, scaring her, then she wanted nothing else to do with that event.  We got to see a tub full of baby chicks and ducks and even got to hold them.  We then got to go to the petting corral where we got to play with lambs, and kids and learn a few things as well.  Then it was off to the hotel/saloon to have a little ice cream and then to the very first and original ZCMI for some old fashion candy.  Then back on  the train to the  gold miners camp to pan for golf.  We found about five gold nuggets.  There was a much smaller train that you could ride in around the pond, which we also enjoyed.  At one point, there was a goose on the track, so Tayton kept yelling for it to move and then whenever we'd see it on our ride around, she would say, "hi goose!"  Noah had a great day, but I think the winner was Tayton who kept hollering at us to look at something new at every turn and keep saying, "I like this!" during the entire trip.

 

Then on Saturday, we spent some time at our old house in Sandy, turning on the sprinklers for the renters and ensuring they were all set for summer.  Then a brief visit to Grandma Crane's place before heading out to City Creek Mall for a stroll.  None of us have been to the new mall, so we decided it would be a fun thing to check out.  They've done a beautiful job on the mall.  We love how the creek runs down the middle and we especially loved that there are places in the river stocked with trout.  I swear Tayton just about dislocated her shoulder violently pointing at every fish that swam by.  Both Jon and I aren't much for mall shopping where you just shop for fun.  We are both about getting in, getting your item and getting out, which you can't do in a mall like that, but it was still fun to visit and walk around with the family.  Our very favorite part of the mall though were the fountains next to Nordstrom's.  They have a very large one that the kids loved walking around and putting their hands in, which was Noah's favorite and another one that would shoot out of the ground, which was Tayton's favorite.  She loves getting wet!  Then at the very end, they wanted to ride the escalator, so Dad look them for a few rides up and down.  I am sure people looked at me funny for taking pictures of folks going up and down the escalator, but it was one of the highlights of the day, so how could I not?

 

On the way home, Jon decided he wanted to have a BBQ, so we invited the neighbors and roasted hot dogs over the fire.  We had a lot of fun getting to know the neighbors better and letting the kids play and despite the planning with only 1 hour notice, we pulled it off fairly well I think.  The greatest lesson of the day though was that those huge campfire marshmallows that you see in the store and you think would be so fabulous over a fire possibly as a s'more is totally deceiving.  They are more marshmallow than one person can handle.  And pay attention to the package. . . It has pictures and everything to tell you that you need 2 entire whole graham cracker rectangles to make it work.  None of this take one rectangle and break it in half like I normally do.  We had marshmallows EVERYWHERE!!  Including one very large one stuck all over Jon's back!  Sad to say, the neighbors had experienced similar drama with those huge marshmallows before but didn't bother warning us until it was too late.  We really had a great time and really enjoyed spending time with the neighbors!

It's interesting to watch Noah's shyness come and go.  If Jon or I are around, Noah acts very shy and takes a very long time to warm up to people before he'll talk to them or interact.  However, if Jon and I aren't around, he warms up to them very quickly and talks to them the minute we walk out the door?  Not sure what's up with that.  Today I am so proud of him.  This is the first time since the first of the year when I started teaching his class that he didn't sit next to me in primary.  He started out next to me, but then moved over and another kid sat between us and Noah did just fine sitting by his friends.  We even interacted a little in primary today.  Then when we got home, I found him over at the other neighbor's house that he normally doesn't play at, the one's we had the BBQ with last night.  He had walked over and was playing with their daughter and their dogs and was talking to the dad and throwing balls to the dogs.  Very fun to watch him open up some days.  I'm not sure if he's overcoming it a little or if it just depends on his mood that day, but it's nice for others to see the side of him that I know and love.

 

Milestones and Exhaustion

We've had a very busy week of firsts.  Tayton has shone interest in potty training for a while now.  She frequently asks to go potty and always wants to flush the toilet.  So we've been continuing to ask her on a regular basis if she want to potty. . . Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn't. . . Hit and miss.  So I bribed her with Princess Panties!  Tayton's little voice saying "princess panties" is adorable.  We tried one day with the panties and she freaked out when she had two accidents, which I believe was a good start of her knowing she didn't want to experience that again, but sad to say, life suddenly go very chaotic, so we've stopped trying.  We'll be back at it hard and heavy on the weekend when we can focus on it a little more.  She was sure proud as punch to show Grandma and Papa when they came to visit on Saturday.  Can't wait until we get to eliminate diapers at our house!

Speaking of which, no one ranks higher than Papa in my family.  I say someone is coming to visit and both Tayton and Noah ask over and over again if Papa is coming.  They don't care who else they see as long as they get to see Papa!  Makes me smile, but annoys me when Papa isn't coming and I have to answer 52 questions about why he isn't coming.

Another first has happened with Noah.  Since watching the 5 year old neighbor ride his bike without training wheels, Noah has been asking to ride his bike without his training wheels, so on Saturday, we had a chance to give it a whirl.  Dad took the training wheels off and then attempted to help Noah ride, but he was hovering too much, so Noah struggled.  When I took over and just help one hand under Noah's seat, he did fabulous.  Noah took off and I was able to let go on the very first attempt.  He then did it again, but then while standing there talking to me about it, he tipped over with the bike on him.  Then he was really upset and asked for the training wheels back.  I am amazed at the gammit of emotions a 4 year old can go through so quickly.  Happy, proud, hurt, frustrated, mad. . . .WOW!!  I've got a few videos of the event posted on You Tube.  I wanted to capture the first moments and got so excited after Noah had given up that he then got right back up and tried again.  I am so embarrassed by this video, but think the embarrassment of my cackling in the background outweigh the opportunity to capture this special moment for Noah.  Check that one out here: http://youtu.be/9kdOQaVe31Q and another one can be viewed here.  This one doesn't have my awful cackle in the background. http://youtu.be/gtNIn2vJyoY. Noah still hasn't figured out how to get going on his own, but he's doing so good and I am so proud of him!

I EARN to sing. . . sing well that is.  I want to be able to sing in musicals more than anything else in the entire world. . . that's why I'm so jealous that the other half of the family got the talent and I didn't.  The kids and I have watched these videos of Teri's kids over and over again. . .  and the sting of jealousy hits me every single time when I see little Lainey sing her songs.  That woman's got some talent, she's just barely learning to harness it.  This one is my favorite:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7zizWJlb3o because there is a point where you can tell she gets a just slightly over her shyness and starts to belt it out just a little bit more.  Sing in Laine!  Notice Papa in the background. . . he's digging out his money because we had to bribe her to sing, but sing she did!  Here's another one where I caught her unaware, practicing for a local talent show:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XgeB-oj9jc  Then there are the two youngest budding stars.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5ib5k7wKf8  You can see Teri had to help them out a little.  :)

Grandma and Papa came to town again this week since my dad needed to have a tumor removed from his kidney.  Monday was the day and boy was it long. . . I left my house at 4:45 a.m. to pick them up and take them to Salt Lake Regional Medical Center downtown.  Check in time was 6:30 a.m.  Around 8:15 a.m., the anesthesiologist stops by to meet us before surgery and freaks out that dad hasn't had a cardio workup in the last 4-5 years despite 2 previous heart attacks, so she won't touch him.  The hospital staff then rearranges everything to get us in with a cardiologist for a stress test in hopes that all looks well and we'll still be able to operate on Monday.  I know Papa would hate to have to do a colon cleanse another day.  Around 1 p.m, we get the word that the stress test is clear and they're able to work him into surgery.  So at 3:15 p.m., they take him back for surgery.  At 5 p.m, we see the Dr. and Nurse walking around the halls, so we stop them to ask how things are going, assuming they've finished the surgery. . . but no, that would be too easy.  They just then had him prepped and were just then getting ready to start the surgery.  He didn't get done until 8 p.m.  Grandma, Papa and I sat in an 8'x8' room looking at each other for hours upon hours.  It's really hard to do nothing!!  Back to the hospital today at 6:10 a.m. until 2 p.m.  I'm exhausted.  I can't imagine how my mother feels.  Thankfully, surgery went well.  Take care of the one's you love!!!

This week, I got offered another job at hill working some new, innovative, strategic contracts in the Hill Enterprise Commodity Council.  I'm so excited.  I loved my current job, but was ready for a little change of scenery, so this will be so great!  I wanted to take donuts to work as a little treat as I broke the news to my employees, so I took the kids to Krispy Kreme's to get a few dozen.  What a fun experience!!  A very first for me and the kids!  We've never bee to Kripsy Kreme's.  I had no idea you could see the whole process in action.  Very fun and the kids loved watching every moment of it.  They got to pick out their own donuts to eat later too, but surprised me when they didn't really care for the ones with sprinkles they had picked out.

 

Taken by Noah

New bath letters - only pic I had without cute bare bums!

Jon is still working a job in the Ogden Yard.  It's been quite an experience these past two weeks.  Normally, Jon has been getting home around midnight, so he's been really tough and he goes to bed and gets up with the kids bright and early and plays dad all day until 3:30 when he leaves for work.  However, last Wednesday, my alarm rang at 4:30 a.m. and I rolled over just to find that Jon hadn't made it home yet.  Wow, that makes for an interesting morning.  Thank goodness I have some great folks who put up with my texts and that awful time of the morning and willingly agree to watch my kids.  That's been happening regularly since then, so now we've arranged for someone to come watch the kids from the time I leave for work at 5:30 a.m. until Jon wakes up after his long nights at work.  Then he leaves for work at 3:30 but I don't make it home until 4 p.m, so another girl in the neighborhood comes over for those 30 minutes to help us out.  The kids are a little confused about who's here when, but they love the time playing with other people.  Here's just a snapshot of the things Jon's imagination let's him whip up while he's home during the day with the kids.  Don't ask me where this idea came from.  :)  See the amazing possibilities when you have a headband, paper, bathroom cup and rubber band.  Lots of fun!!

Jon's normally the one that's great at taking pictures with his phone, not me, so these are the limited pictures I had access to today.  Jon will have to update you all about his experiences later on.

Sick Again

We didn't do anything exciting this week as a family, because once again, both Tayton and Noah had colds.   I'll blame it on the menopausal spring weather we are having.  One day we're a beautiful, gardening type of 70 degrees and the very next day it's bitter cold with wind and snow.  What's the deal with that?  Bought a beautiful plant from Costco and planted it a planter outside my back door.  It was so pretty with it's purple flowers for 4 or 5 days until the weather turned horribly nippy and I think the plant has frozen now since all the flowers are dead and the leaves are brown and wilted around the edges.  Dang!!

Friday we celebrated my Uncle's 70th birthday party.  Oh my goodness.  I can't believe how the time flies.  I still don't look at my parents or aunts and uncles as being that old.  It think that makes me old.  Grandma and Papa were in town for the party and some Dr. appointments too, but Jon and the kids didn't get to see them because of the colds.  I really appreciate Jon, that he's always willing to sacrifice and help out with the kids on occasions like this so I can still be with my family.

Here's a few pictures of our life when we spend so much time at home!

Reading stories while having a snack

Tayton's favorite animal "Ramone"

Lunch at McDonald's

Quiet time with Sony & the iPad

Playing at McDonald's

Sony's Nap Time

Bad Behavior

It's been a very interesting week. . . Jon got called back to work full-time again with Union Pacific Railroad, so I took Tuesday off knowing that he would be home and we went to the zoo as a family.  We didn't know what kind of schedule Jon would be on at that point, so we wanted to have a family outing.  It was an overcast, chilly day, which makes for the very best days at the zoo.  The animals aren't hot, so they are out roaming around and playing.  I love what they've done with the new Rocky Shore exhibit.  They've added otters, seals, seal lions, a polar bear and 3 brown bears I believe.  Definitely tons of fun!  I think I enjoyed it more than the kids did!  My favorite parts was the 3 bears. . . one was swimming in the water while another walked along a log that hung out over the water and they played, swatting at each other and trying to bite each other   Very cute. . . not sure you can say cute considering the 3"+ long claws they were swiping at the other with.

 
Jon enjoyed his last days off before going to work playing with the kids in the park again.  Can't get enough of the good weather and the time at home.

On Thursday night, after dinner, we loaded up and went to the Roy Pond to feed the ducks. . . oddest thing though, the ducks weren't hungry.  Every single time we're there, the ducks mob us and attempt to steal bread from your hand and your bag.  That night, they were totally no interested at all. . . not sure if now that it's warmed up they're finding plenty of their own food or if someone had beat us there that night and stuffed them before we could.  

 

On Friday, I decided to seal the tile floors, so we moved everything from the bathrooms, laundry room, entryway and dinning room into the living room and lived out of the living room for 2 days.  It was a lot of hard work, but Noah was very helpful in cleaning the floor and helping keep Tayton and Sony out of the wet seal.  In the middle of all that commotion though, Noah comes in and tells me there is a bead up his nose. . . a what?   He found a yellow, plastic BB outside and decided to shove it up his nose.  I tried everything from blowing his nose over and over again, to a booger sucker, etc., but to no avail.  So off to the Dr. we went.  They tried hard not to laugh at us and hoped that coming to the Dr. with all the commotion would teach him not to do this again.  Finally, they were able to bend a paperclip, have me hold him, the PA hold the light and the Dr do the digging.  She was able to pull it part way out, then urged Noah to blow his nose again. . . out it popped.  This is the 3rd nose incident with Noah. . . first was a craisin that I had no idea was there and he didn't tell me until he sneezed it out, the 2nd was an M&M that half melted and mushed when I tried to push it out and then this.  What is this fascination he has?  I truly hope this taught him a lesson, but only time will tell.

I've also found myself biting my children twice this week.  Tayton bit Noah earlier this week because he was doing something she didn't want him to do.  She she screamed at him, then bit him and left marks.  I did what any good parent would do and bit her back, told her not to bite and put her in timeout.  Probably not my best mommy moment, but then it happened again later in the week when Noah bit Tayton because he didn't want her playing with the dog door.  Once again, I bit him and put him in time out.  The look of shock on both of their faces that I would actually bite them is priceless.  Once again, I hope that lessons were learned, and maybe I've learned my lesson that reciprocating isn't necessarily the best teaching method.

I'm still waiting to hear back on some news at work, so hopefully this week.  I'm ready for some changes!  It's always interesting when Jon goes back to work full-time because we fight to find this balance between work, family, play, etc.  These kids are the greatest, for they are very understanding and forgiving of the crazy life our work schedules put them through.  They've learned to adjust and have taken everything with stride.  They even really proclaim enjoyment in going to daycare's and babysitters.  We've been lucky to have recently found 2 high school girls that the kids love to babysit in the evenings.  We're also very excited that we get to have one of our favorite daycare ladies back coming to the house to watch the kids while we're at work.  We've been very  blessed to have been able to find the day-care situations that will work with our non-routine, on call schedule.  It's hard not to feel guilty about what you could be doing better, but I think these kids are pretty good despite our faults.  Heavenly Father truly blesses us.  Jon's been lucky this week to have had a job in the Ogden rail yard, so he goes to work at 11 p.m. and gets home around 8 a.m., then goes to sleep until about 3 p.m. when we get to spend the evening together as a family.  He also gets weekends off, so it's nice to have all this family time despite his work.

It's conference weekend and I'm reminded again what is important and about all the things I could do better to be a better mom, wife, friend, employee, teacher, daughter, sister.  I'm vowing to take better care of myself and to ensure my time is used wisely with my family.  Speaking of which, Jon and I have started a diet again. . . low carb.  It's going very well and it's nice to have someone to do this with so that we both eat the same kids of food and are motivating to eachother, but I'm also very competitive, so I have a tendency to want to "outdo" him. . . although I know I'll fail with that because he's a man. Wish us luck!

These girls (neighbor) love each other

Playing together

Helping clean off the patio