You take the good, You take the bad

Well, it's always best to start off with the bad news, right?  On Sunday we were driving over to the land we bought to walk around it and see what needs to be done.  We put Ziggy in the back of the truck, where she's been a ton of times before, for the LESS THAN A MILE drive.  All the sudden we hear a loud yelp, turn around and see Ziggy on the road trying to stand up.  We hurried back and she was bleeding and it seemed pretty clear she had broken her leg.  We think she jumped out of the truck because she saw some pheasants in the field (we saw them there).  

We carried her to the cab, and started driving to the animal hospital.  We had a little trouble finding one--the one we called first had a 6 hour wait time, and they said the next nearest was in Salt Lake.  Whaaa?  So I called a different animal hospital I knew of in Provo and the doctor answered and said he'd be right over.  Perfect.  It was a stressful drive but we made it.  The doctor admitted her and treated her for shock.  He said he'd call the next day after she was under anesthesia and took x-rays.  So he called the next day and told us she had broken the femur into 5 pieces and a piece was missing because it had apparently flown out of her leg (hence the bleeding we saw) and is now left somewhere on the road where she fell.  He was able to fix it with metal plates and pins, but the prognosis is fairly good only if we keep her basically on kennel rest for 3 months.  Yikes, she is going to be an unhappy dog!  No running, playing, wrestling, jumping, etc.  And then hopefully she will make a full recovery.  

So I am trying to be diligent, keeping her most of the time in her kennel.  I do take her out a few times a day for an hour or so, but I keep her on leash so she doesn't try to run or anything.  I make her sit, but I brush her, play a few little thinking games with her and just pet her.  She never wants to go back in her kennel.  It is sad.  But we are doing our best and hopefully these next 12 weeks will go by fast!

It actually looks not too bad...

 Except for the nasty bruise on the inside of her leg.

 And her knee joint is super swollen as you can see here....

 On to happier news, spring is here!  It is by no means hot outside, but definitely time to put the trampoline back up!  Last night the kids and I put the tramp up and it didn't take long for them to start jumping--even before I could get the last few springs on!  And forget about the pad--that will have to wait until tomorrow!

 And on another happy note (for one of my kids), Tyler finally gets his own room.  We've talked about it for a long time, but never actually did anything about it since we figured Joey was too little to share (okay, too naughty--he'd keep everyone up all night).  But the time finally did come.  And I have to say, Tyler has kept that room spic and span since the day he moved in!  Bed made, toys put away, laundry in the basket....   It's been great!  He even gets to put his stuffed pheasant in it (on the left).

So Tyler is happy.  Jacob, on the other hand, feels a bit jipped (or however you spell that).  But his turn will come!

It's Raining, It's Pouring

Utah is in a dry spell--reservoirs are low and snow/rain is down.  So when it rained last week we decided to welcome it!  It was breezy and Joey was afraid his umbrella was going to blow away, but he managed.  They had so much fun splashing and running around.  

A little break from winter...

Does anyone else get the winter blahs?  I do--major winter doldrums going on.  Our good friends, Dan and Lindsay, invited us to come down to their house in Scottsdale, Arizona over President's Day weekend.  It was HOT!  Probably around 90 degrees.  It was great--we had plenty of sunshine, got to wear shorts and short sleeves in February.  We went to a car show and saw some awesome cars.  I'm pretty sure Joey is picking his nose...

 There is so much really awesome stuff to do in that area.  It would be a great place to live!  We walked around the old downtown.  The kids loved climbing on the LOVE statue.  I cropped it so you could see the kids better, so now it is just a giant E statue.  The girls' names are Eden and Stella.

 What a great moment captured!  I wonder what they were smiling about?

 There was also several cool parks near them.  One is near the home of the author of the Family Circus cartoon.  I am a big fan, as you can see by the name of my blog, Swenson Family Circus.  Here is a statue of all the kids from the cartoon and all of our kids!

 They had an amazing train museum--a HUGE building completely set up with model trains.  It was amazing.  Whole miniature towns, landscapes, everything you can think of--even a mini-solar farm!  And trains galore!  It was such a blast.  The kids were entranced.

 Our last day we hit a Renaissance Faire.  I know it's a bit kooky, but it is apparently this huge production and one of the biggest faires in the states.  There is actually an entire village built out in the desert, permanently there, and they hold the faire 8 weeks a year I think.

 We saw some fun shows, some vulgar ones (I didn't know how crude some of the humor would be!) and a fun jousting match.  One of the shows was so bad we left after a few minutes.  I was surprised at how lewd it was considering all the kids in the audience.  Apparently we were the only parents "prude" enough to leave.  But my kids don't need to hear about alcohol use, pooping and a love of all things rated XXX by some weirdo in a pirate costume!  It was definitely an exerience!

Maggie's highlight was meeting the forest fairy.  She even gave Maggie a fairy rock!  Which Maggie then proceeded to lose, the she cried, then we went back and had to get another one.

 We had great times sitting and chatting by the firepit.  All the kids slept outside it was so warm!  We had a great time.

On the drive home we came across a bridge that crossed over the Colorado River.  It was pretty high up, a mini-Grand Canyon.  We got out and walked around a while.

 Of course Maggie asked us to take a picture of her...

 And just for posterity's sake Tyler took a snapshot of me and Eric.  At this point we'd been driving for about 8 hours so it felt great to stretch our legs!

It was a great weekend.  Now back to real life again!

The Ice Queen

A couple weeks ago we took the kids to see the Ice Castle display.  It is all handmade and purely out of ice.  It was pretty cool.  It was a snowy day!

 Yes, I do exist... (I am never in any pictures).

 There were tons of caves to crawl through and crevasses to walk through.  It was tricky keeping up with the kids.

 There was even a slide made of snow!

It was a neat place and the kids wanted to stay longer, but my tolerance for cold and crowds is diminishing with my age!  

Eric has been taking Ty and Jake skiing lately--they love it and are doing great.  I am left behind with the little ones.  Hopefully next winter we can start making skiing a family activity.  I definitely need  winter activity to do--I get MAJOR winter blahs.

I've been doing some self-reflection lately, thinking about motherhood and family and kids and all that wonderful stuff!  Even though I feel like motherhood has sucked some of the intelligence out of me, I have learned a few things.

1.  Sleepless nights turn into sleepless years.  I'm pretty sure I haven't slept soundly through the night since Tyler was born, and I'm sure teenage year will have me with even more red-eye.

2.  Most things are just a phase.  Not that I ignore the naught or annoying things my kids do--but I don't stress about them as much as I used to.  Things have a way of passing or working themselves out and it turns out ok.

3.  Time speeds up as they get older--the days are long but the years are short.

4.  No matter how many kids you have, you never really figure motherhood out because each one is so different.  

5.  My regrets over the years are not dishes left int he sink or clothes unfolded, it's the times I told my 3-year-old I didn't have time to read a book because I have to do dishes, or fold laundry.

6.  But along with number 5, I've also learned to ease up on myself a little and not be so self-critical.  I'm not perfect, I'm not the perfect mother, but I am trying to be better each day and learn from my mistakes.  Poor Tyler being the oldest gets to deal with the most mistakes!  Joey should turn out fine.

7.  Minivans are the mosts awesome vehicles ever created.

8.  I've learned not to judge other moms when their kids are unkept, messy or dirty.  I've been there.

9.  Baby wipes are a close second to minivans in awesomeness.

10.  The only thing more disgusting than cleaning up your own kids' puke is cleaning ANOTHER kids' puke off your kid.

10.2  The ultimate JOY when your kids can finally make it to the toilet to throw up.

11.  Motherhood isn't like it is on tv, and you're not the only mom who loses her cool every now and then.

12.  It doesn't get easier, it just gets different.

and

13.  I've learned that instead of fighting where I am in life and the responsibilities I currently have and being annoyed by them, to just embrace where I am...accept the fact that I have to change diapers, accept and embrace the fact I won't have "me" time for a while, and just embrace all the joys and hardships that come with having little kids and you will be much happier.  

Oh, and don't buy nice furniture until they are all moved out.

Mischief and Mayhem...aka Joey

There is a website out there called {ahem} *Stuff My Kids have Ruined. (*words have been modified to be less offensive)  I've never posted on it, but it gives me solace to know that other parents have a hellion in their midst.  Now all my kids were born stubborn--people like to call it "strong personalities"--but none were INTENTIONALLY naughty...that is, until now.  Joey is but a mere three years old, and he has already filled his life up with stories of destruction.  (You may recall that Jacob in his younger years was referred to as the "Destructor"--child's play, my friends...child's play.)  In the past 3 days alone he has: fed a neighbor's cell phone to our dog, who proceeded to chew it to pieces; pumped over half a bottle of soap in my newly cleaned glass sink, which then of course he got all over himself, the counter, the floor, the toilet....;  popped almost every key off my Apple wireless keyboard, of which I found all but 5 rendering the keyboard unusable (I am currently on the laptop); dipped his clean pull-up in the toilet then waved it around over his head splattering the bathroom with toilet water--again, the bathroom I had just cleaned.  The list goes on and on, but that was just the past 3 days.  He is constantly running away from me anywhere I go--stores, church, the yard...  In a matter of one minute while I was picking out the right size jeans for Tyler and Jacob at Walmart a few days ago, Joey managed to climb out of the cart (and yes, he was buckled in) and ran off and I couldn't find him.  Admittedly there was a split second where I thought of running off and letting him be someone else's problem--JUST KIDDING.  There I am in the kid section yelling his name.  Embarrassing.  He also colored on Ziggy with markers, spits on everyone and everything, drew with permanent marker on my nice chair and bedframe in my room, climbs to the top shelf of the pantry to sneak treats, etc.  It was so bad I even had to put a lock on Tyler and Jacob's room so Joey couldn't sneak in to steal/break/hide/destroy their things.  Now they keep it locked all day.  Oh my.  He gives me a run for my money.

If any of you out there are saying, "Well why doesn't she just stop him/discipline him?" I'd be willing to bet you either have no kids, or had very easy children who loved to please.  Take Joey for a day and then let me know what you think.  I have to admit, though, despite all that, he makes me laugh so much.  He can be very sweet and has the biggest, heartiest laugh of any little boy I know (that is, if you can get him to trade his signature scowl in for a laugh).  I love dearly despite my better judgement!  He gives huge bear hugs, he makes me sing him "Eye of the Tiger" before he goes to sleep at night (I love that), and just does funny things.  I know [hope] someday he will outgrow his naughtiness and channel his energy AWAY from the dark side and to good things.  Joey, I love you, now LISTEN TO ME!

                  Who needs the number 4 anyway?  And don't even get me started on "M"....

Like Mother like daughter.

Anyone who knows me well will know I am what you'd call a "planner."  I am not so much a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl.  Sometimes I wish I were, but being a planner is not a bad thing.  But it can be taken to far--case in point:

Yesterday we went to the library and Maggie and Joey each picked out 3 books to bring home.  Although I am ashamed to admit it, we don't frequent the library too much (any of you who knows Joey knows why).  Maggie thought it was amazing and wonderful and marvelous.  I said to her, "Maybe we can come to library every Tuesday and pick out books since you liked it so much."  She thought for a minute and replied, "Well, maybe when I'm 15 or 16 and it's my birthday, and it's on a Tuesday, we will have to have a party first, and then we will have to do something else, and then something else, and maybe something else too.  But after we do all that then we can go to the library."  Now that's what I call planning ahead.

A fun filled December

Well December was a whirlwind of activities!  Is it just me, or was the Christmas season uber-short?  It was--but we managed to cram it full of Christmasy fun.  I guess I will just go in order...

First, with the kids out of school, I was bit tired of being stuck in the house with them so we went to Wendy's for lunch and Joey's toy in his meal was a little mini train.  Ever the non-conformist, this is how Joey decided to play with it...

 He wore it around the house for hours.

Every year we try to go up to Salt Lake City and spend the night.  Last year we went up on a Friday night---"I've made a huge mistake."  It was so crowded you couldn't even walk through temple square to see the lights, restaurants were maxed out and the mall was too busy to walk around in.  Needless to say it wasn't very much fun--more stress.  So this year we decided to take the kids out of school for a day and go up on a Tuesday night.  What a difference!  Not only were the kids completely stoked about missing school, there was hardly anybody there.  We walked around the mall at City Creek and loved watching the fish...

 Walk all around Temple Square.  Joey was hilarious--yelling out the colors of all the lights in a most excited voice... "Look!  Is orange!!!!  Orange ones!!!!  Orange!!!   ORANGE!!!  AAHHHHHH!!!" (His favorite color is orange.)   The only drawback was that we happened to go up during that crazy cold spell--0 degrees as we are walking around.  BBRRRR!!  But we had booked our hotel a month in advance so couldn't change it.  But we bundled up and luckily there are lots of places to go inside.  So we'd walk a bit then go in the tabernacle, walk a bit then go in the visitor's center, walk a bit and go in the mall, etc.

 Just to prove my existence I put in this "selfie" I took of Maggie and me in the visitors center.  It isn't flattering--taking a picture of yourself with 20 layers on is harder than it looks--but since I am rarely in pics I thought I might as well add it.  This is in the theater watching the video of the nativity.

 Salt Lake was fun, and a few days after we got home we had our 2nd annual Ugly Sweater Party.  It was a blast.  Everyone looked TERRIBLE and we had good food, played games and contests,  Here's Eric and I getting photo-bombed.

 Then it was Christmas eve before we knew it!  The kids donned their pj's from Grandma Swenson...giddy with excitement!

 Sleeping was hard that night for the kids--which made it hard for mom and dad too!  But they rose bright and early Christmas morning and all piled on our bed anxiously waiting while dad went downstairs to see if Santa really came....

 Once we heard the go ahead from Eric we ran downstairs---Joey (who really didn't know what he was supposed to be excited about) realized the thrill of Christmas and Santa as he came down and saw all the wonderful gifts!

 Tyler made a picture for Joey...

 Maggie got a bike and a dollhouse.

 Jacob got a remote control helicopter and science kit.

 Tyler got a remote control plane (that we ended up returning because it didn't work---it's a good thing Santa shops on Amazon too) and a gift card.

 Joey got a Batman set and Spiderman toys.

 Santa gave all the kids goggles in their stockings....

 And Bubble Tape (can you guess how long it took Joey to eat his whole container?  about 5 minutes).

 And here I am Christmas morning (picture taken by Joey), slaving over cinnamon rolls--it took forever to open the bag and heat them in the microwave...(They were from Shirley's Bakery--I can't compete).

 The kids loved their gifts, and we spent time with family.  Then yesterday we went sledding with friends.  Ty and Jake had a snowball fight waiting for the 4-wheelers to come pick them up to take them up the hill.

 Ready to go!

 I managed to get a shot of everyone coming down--front to back: Jake, Tyler, Joey, Maggie and Eric.

 Whoo hoo!

 Maggie and Joey pooped out long before the boys so they stayed warm by the itty-bitty fire.

 Joey eating snow....

 Maggie riding up the hill on the back of the 4-wheeler.  Uncle Dan telling her, "Hold on tight!"

 And Dan even gave Tyler his first skiing lesson!  He was so patient and good with him.  Thank you Dan!

SO now we are ready to swing in the new year!  Here's to good times, good food, good friends and family!