Snow in September

This morning we woke up to find snow on the ground. I can't believe it! You never know what you're gonna get in Idaho. We are going to have to wear coats.

I talked to Ryan this morning and he said that in Virginia it is beautiful. He said that it is 67 degrees and nothing but blue skies!

What a Difference!

Walmart and throw-up (Bad Combination)

Okay... so I thought I would share my experience with throw up and Walmart.

A week ago Jordan was sick, as noted in the blog called "My Meltdown", well I had taken him to Walmart with me to get some 7-Up, gatorade, soup, etc. I had to take him with me because there was no one I could call to watch him. Normally I would have asked my in-laws but they were in Texas visiting family. He had been doing well (he hadn't thrown up for over an hour), so I thought that I would be okay. I was just going to be in and out, so no worries right? WRONG!! Right when I was starting to check out, Jordan starts to do the whole heaving thing. I knew it was coming. I tried to tell him to hang on (yeah, like that's gonna work). Anyways...Right in front of the cashier, Jordan threw up. The lady first looked absolutely disgusted, like she was gonna spew, and then she looked at me with pure raunchiness, like "why in the heck would you bring a sick kid into the store?" I kept apologizing, but she just stood there and handed me a roll of paper towels. "OK, I guess I will try to clean up the floor while I am trying to clean up my kid", that was my thought. Then I started to wipe the floor and she said "I'll just have to call someone to un-lock the cleaning closet, don't do it" Well, allright, I just thought that since you handed me a roll of paper towels, and didn't say anything that you wanted me to clean it up? I was mortified. I mean I couldn't do anything. I couldn't run him to somewhere cause then I would have spread throw up all over.

Well... today, it happened again, except this time I didn't know he was even sick. We went to Walmart yet again, to pick up some pictures and get some Pepto Bismal for Elly (she has the runs) Jordan starts saying mom...my tummy hurts. I told him we would be just a few minutes. Well, right when we got to the photo counter, he starts the heaving, Oh crap! I thought. What do I do? There he blows chunks. Why is it that it has to be in front of someone? They all have to watch my kid throw up. Bummer!!! This time, there was a lady who was super nice. I apologized and she said"Oh, don't worry, I've had 6 kids, I know all about that" She helped me so much. She called someone to clean it up, she got Jordan some tissues, she even got me an extra bag, just in case he had to throw up again in the car. What a difference!

I like the understanding people, it sure makes a HUGE difference. I don't purposely take my kid shopping while he is sick!

Why???

As most of you know, I am a teacher. I teach second grade and I LOVE it. My first year was excellent, my second year I HATED, and this year (so far) I love.

Well...I have this little girl in my class that just has a rough life. We think she has been sexually abused by her father. She has been taken out of her home and is living with a foster family. I guess it is good that she get out of that situation, but you know, I don't think this little girl is getting the love or attention that she needs. She comes to school smelling of urine, her hair is never combed, she wears the same clothes over and over again, and sometimes she will just come up to me and ask for a hug. I could never deny a little child a hug if they ask for one. If a child is willing to ASK for a hug, they must need it. I try to make it a point to say something kind to her everyday, and treat her with love. Why is it that these children have to go through such horrible circumstances? I just wish that there were more I could do for her. Why is it that foster parents can get away with things like this? Aren't they supposed to be caring for the child? Even social services don't do a thing about it. It just makes me so sad. A child should feel safe in a home, and loved.

If you are a parent, I plead with you, please let your child know that you love them. They need to hear it and see it. They need to be treated kindly. It does make a difference, I promise you. I can tell which children get the love and attention they need from home. They bring it with them into the classroom. Be Aware, children say things that you might not want someone else to hear about.

Sunday Dress

So we have been hearing a lot about how we are supposed to dress at church (no flip flops, wear nylons, slips etc.) Why is it that we don't hear a lot about what boys are supposed to wear or not wear. I guess they don't have as many choices as us girls, who knows?

Well I have been trying to dress my children appropriately so that their foundation will be started and it won't be such a shock when they grow

up. I make Jordan wear a button up shirt and tie and his shirt needs to be tucked in, (although by the end of church, it is un-tucked and sloppy.) Elly has to wear tights and nice shoes and her hair has to be done (that is not something that happens everyday, she doesn't have much hair, but Sunday we try to make that a priority).

They really look good on Sunday. I just want to share what they look like.

My Meltdown!!!

Okay...so I think I may have had a nervous breakdown. YIKES!!! I have felt a bit overwhelmed with everything that I have on my plate right now, especially with Ryan gone, so it's no wonder I had a meltdown, but WHOA! I'm not so sure I like that. I am a single mom at the moment (with Ryan gone in Virginia), I have a job (working with a bunch of kids none the less), I have a wonderful calling in the church (2nd counselor in the Young Women's presidency) but with that comes a lot of responsibility (I think about those girls as if they were my own children and I worry about them all the time, I REALLY, TRULY love them), I come home each day after work and try to keep my house clean (with 2 kids that seems impossible), I still have to be a mom and take care of my own kids, and I am a visiting teacher. I love my life and I am very blessed but at the moment it seems like a lot to handle. Anyways...It was Tuesday night when everything just seemed to take the cake. We were at mutual and I had to bring my kids with me (anybody that I would call is usually at mutual with me, and my in-laws are in Texas, so I was out of luck!) I thought that it would be okay, but all Elly and Jordan wanted to do was run around (and ignore anything I tried to tell them). Finally I took Jordan out in the hall and had a "talk" with him. He threw a MAJOR tantrum. Holy Cow! It was awful. Needless to say I packed up Elly and we dragged Jordan out of there and headed home. I put him to bed right when we got back.

That night at about 12:30 am Jordan starts yelling for me. I quickly got up to see what was wrong. Yep, you guessed it! He had barfed all over. So I had to clean up the bed, wash all the bedding and take care of Jordan. This went on all night. I quite literally got 3 hours of sleep that night. It went on through the morning. Well....I couldn't take Jordan to day care so I had to make arrangements for a sub. (I already feel like a bad mom cause I don't stay at home, I actually work) So now I had to put my job first. I couldn't just call in. I had to go down to the school and drag my sick little boy with me, so that I could make sure the sub had everything she needed to teach my class.

As I was taking Jordan into my classroom, a woman that I work with asked me if I was okay. Right then I just started to sob. I had just taken all I could. She probably wished that she hadn't asked. I couldn't talk for fear I might cry more. I had tried to get a sub that morning but couldn't find anyone. I had to ask the secretary to help me get a sub. Luckily they did find one but she couldn't come until 8:30 and school started at 7:55. It was just a hard morning for me. My friend that I work with came in and asked me if I was okay and I just cried on her shoulder. She said I ought to call my home teachers and get a blessing. Well... I don't even know who my home teachers are. Since we have been in this ward (which has been over 3 years), I have only seen home teachers twice and that was right when we moved into the ward. Yeah...

The point for telling this story is this....For all you single moms out there, HANG IN THERE! I understand what you go through each day and I commend you for it. I am sure you handle it better than I do.

The Things Kids Say

So this boy in my class comes up to me and says: (The boy's name is Alfonso)

Alf: Mrs. Taylor? Do you like my shirt? My ex-brother gave it to me.

Me: Hmmm...How is he your ex-brother?

Alf: Well... My sister has a lot of boyfriends, like 100 of them. He is not her boyfriend anymore!

Me: (chuckle) oh yeah? Well it's a nice shirt.

Pesky Neighbor Kids

Pictured above: This is the tree that invites all the kids to play in our yard. I'll have to get one when it has all of its leaves.

So we have this Willow tree in our front yard that seems to call to all the neighbor kids "Come on over, come climb me, come pull off my leaves and spread them all over the lawn, just do what you want with me". It can be a bit annoying! Every day when I get get home from work and picking up the kids, we are greeted by no less than 5 children in our yard. The funny thing is this... my children are 3 and 15 months. The kids that come over are at least 6 or older and they ask if my kids can come out and play! WHAT??? Hello... If my kids come out to play I have to be out there watching them. I am not one of those parents that lets my kids wander the neighborhood and don't know where they are at or what they are doing. We do however have these types of children where we live. Let me share with you some examples of what these little "sweethearts" do.

#1- I was out mowing my lawn, my kids were both in the house asleep and this little 4 year old (whose parents NEVER know where he's at) comes over, walks into my garage and starts playing with Jordan's toys. (Yes...Kids apparently do this nowadays)

#2- Again I was mowing the lawn. A kid comes over and is playing with Jordan (this kid is 8, Jordan 3) That is fine, but then I tell Jordan that we need to go mow the back yard and that he needs to be there with me. Well who follows?? Yes the other little boy. He comes into my back yard, he picks an apple off my tree (that's fine) but then he comes over to me, he wants me to stop mowing and go slice the apple for him. (UMMMM...No, I am busy)

#3- We sometimes go out to the front yard and eat an ice-cream cone on our front steps. Well a different little boy comes over, he sits down next to Jordan and says "I really like ice-cream" (hint hint) Then he tries to lick Jordan's ice-cream cone. (Man...Have your mom go get you some)

#4- This little girl and her brother come over. She begins to hit her brother with a stick and is screaming at him. I go outside and tell them to leave. (I don't want anybody driving by to think that these kids are mine. I do not allow that type of behavior)

#5- I finally let Jordan have a friend over. This kid sees some Ice-Breaker Sours that I have on my shelf. He takes them down and says "Do you mind if I have one" Yes I mind...those are mine." He proceeds to tell me that his mom lets him have them. "Fine", I said. "You can have one". He said "I'll have 2" I said "NO, you may have one" He says "it's okay I'll have two." I told him "No you will have ONE or none at all. Finally he says ok. Who raises these kids?


There is a ton of stories like this. I just had to vent. Kids these days are RUDE.

Mary Kay Makeovers

So since I have started this whole BLOG thing, I have found that some of my friends have been doing this for a long time. WOW! I guess I'm a little late to the game. Oh well...Better Late than never. I have gotten blog links to my friends and have seen some of the things that they have written, (pretty hilarious I might add) there was a blog from my good friend and past Ricks college roomate, Jamie who talks about this Mary Kay Makeover that we got roped into. She mentions in it that she thinks there might have been a BEFORE picture somewhere, well here it it!!! I happen to have it. I have copied Jamie's story cause she tells it so much better than I could.

left to right: Rosemay, Britton, and me. Notice the dramatic color contrast from neck to face.

Here it goes:

Okay, this is Fall 1999 in Rexburg, Idaho. Rosemay was at the grocery store when this lady from Georgia walks up to her and says, "oh ma gawsh! You have to let me give you a makeover. I'm a Mary Kay consultant and I just love yer face!" Rosemay doesn't know whether or not to be flattered or insulted by someone wanting to give her a makeover, so she reluctantly consents and told her she could come over to our apartment. Of course, she forces me and Britton to do it with her. Mary Kay just doesn't work for me. The product or the parties. So this lady comes over and gushes about how beautiful we all are and proceeds to give us bad makeup advice. Maybe it was the bad lighting in our basement apartment, but she gave us bright red lipstick and really light foundation and we ended up looking like a Geisha. Doesn't even look good for almost 10 years ago. Not even close. So then she wants to take our pictures to enter us into a makeover contest where we could win a cruise and other things like that. This picutre is us politely letting her take our pictures, but we were laughing so hard that our eyes were squinting and our faces hurt. She probably thought we were laughing because we were having so much fun girl bonding. It was hilarious. Of course Rosemay looked the most decent, even though she herself ended up a lighter shade of brown. Good times. I think we have a before shot of us looking "miserable". I'll have to find that.

Trip to the mall (Never Again!!!)

So, I told Jordan that since I didn't have to work on Saturday, we would go to the mall (there is a costume shop set up for Halloween) and pick out a costume. Oh my gosh...What was I thinking? Taking kids to the mall is misery. Anyways... we went with Grandma Sherrey and two cousins (Alyssa and Cole Makai). In the car everything was fine, but once we hit the parking lot, all hell broke loose. Jordan wanted everything that he couldn't have. He wanted a monkey leash like Alyssa but we didn't have one, he wanted to push Elly in the stroller, but I was afraid that he might just run her into oncoming traffic (he tends to just run away and not come back, even if you are screaming at him in sheer panic). Just to get inside the mall was a fight. I considered just leaving and going home, but I told myself, once we get inside and see the costumes, we'll be fine. YEAH RIGHT! He wanted a sword (I told him no, he wanted a creepy costume, I told him no) Each time I told him no the screeching got louder. I had to drag him out of the store and threaten him with "You are not going to get a costume if you keep this up." Eventually he stopped, but only after everybody in the mall turned to look and see if I was beating my child. I might as well have. If you heard his screaming you would have thought it too.

Well we went to Old Navy, where I found just what I was looking for. We got Elly a cute little monkey outfit, cause that is what she reminds me of. We got Jordan a Dragon, he loved it. We were headed to the checkout stand when Jordan and Alyssa saw something which made us take a detour. A HUGE gumball machine filled with big bouncy balls (of course the one they wanted was not gonna come out) Well the first quarter went in. This ball was going to be for Alyssa (she wanted the sparkly bouncy ball). Of course she didn't get that one! She got a green and white swirled ball. She was so sad. Next quarter went in... this ball was for Jordan. Guess which ball he got? Yep, the sparkly one (the one Alyssa wanted). Oh boy! After some coercing we got Jordan to trade with her. He wanted a different ball anyway. Well, the last quarter went in, this time it was for Elly. Out came another swirly ball, not what Jordan wanted, but we got him to walk to the cash register to pay for the costumes with a bit of a smile on his face, that is until it was time to leave. I paid for the costumes and was about ready to leave when I heard an all to familiar cry. "I need to pay for my Ball!!" "Jordan you already paid for it" I said. Still screaming... " need to pay for my ball, I didn't pay for my ball". Oh jeez, what to do. I just wanted to scream. Thank goodness for a nice OLD NAVY LADY. She took the ball from him and scnned it, just to make him happy. Thank-you for nice people in Idaho. She saved my sanity.

What a Nice Day!

So today I went to church like every Sunday, and I was dreading it, cause with Ryan gone it is hard to keep 2 little ones happy and quiet for 1 hour and 10 minutes in sacrament. I figured today was going to be the same and it makes it hard for me to want to go. Well... I did go, and you know what, it was pretty nice. My kids were good, and quiet. WOW!! Ryan talked to Jordan on the phone this morning and reminded him to be good at church. It must have worked cause he was an angel. We made it!!! Yay!!!

So we got through sacrament and it was time for Sunday school and then on to Young Womens. Jordan went straight to nursery. He loves it. Jordan is in Senior nursery so he gets to have a part in the primary program. I am so excited. I can't wait to see how he does. Elly on the other hand was super happy, but she wanted to run around. I had her sitting quietly for a little while and then she up and ran away, she ran right around the teacher with mom trying to chase her down. How embarrassing. Luckily, the teacher is super nice.

Well after church we always go to Dean and Sherrey's (Ryan's parents) house for dinner. We went there today as well. After we finished eating I was trying to get Jordan down for a nap. I decided to let him lay on the couch. I got him a blanket and he wanted me to lay on the other end of the couch and share the blanket with him. I went and put my feet under the blanket and put them next to his feet cause mine were freezing and his were so warm. He said "Mom your feet are cold. " I told him that I had to put my feet on his because daddy wasn't there to warm them up for me and I needed someone to do it. He stopped talking for a while and just stared at me, after a couple of minutes he looks right at me and said "Mom...I love you". that is just the best feeling in the world. Then he jumped over to me and gave me the biggest hug. He is just so sweet. After that he layed back down and he said "Mom...can I rub your feet?" I told him that he sure could, and he rubbed my toes. He watches his Dad, that's for sure. Ryan rubs my feet all the time. That is funny that Jordan decided to copy that. Jordan is gonna have a foot fetish like his daddy. How cute!

Rainbows

So this past month we have been getting a ton of rain and wind. One day we were outside, it was beautiful and all of a sudden, the wind picked up and it just started to pour. We of course all ran inside. After a few minutes...the wind stopped and the rain died down, so we went outside again.I just love the clean smell after a rain. To our surprise, there was not one, but two rainbows in the sky. One right under the other and it spread throughout the whole neighborhood. It was beautiful. It just makes me think of all of Heavenly Father's creations, and how grateful I am for them. He must really love us to make such wonderful things for us. Jordan thought it was the coolest thing ever. He just loved seeing all the colors. Jordan tried to get Elly to look in the right direction. He wanted her to see this beautiful sight too! She was too busy, just being outside. She is ALWAYS on the go.

My little gentleman

So I just wanted to share a little story: Tonight I told Jordan that if he was really good and he was nice to Elly, then I would let him stay up a little bit later (8:00 is his usual bedtime), and have popcorn and finish "The Lion King". He was so good and he did everything that I asked him to do. I asked him if he would hang up Elly's towel and he said "Sure!" I asked him to go sit on the couch so we could read scriptures and say prayers, and he said "Okay Mom!" Now I couldn't not follow through with what I said, so we put Elly to bed, we popped some popcorn, and we turned on his movie. I didn't want any popcorn, so I put it in a bowl and let him have at it. He had been eating for about 10 minutes and he turned to me and said, "You sure you don't want somma this?" I said "No thank you sweetie, I'm ok". He just looks at me and says "Okay, just checkin"
He is such a considerate little boy, he just makes me laugh. What a little sweetheart.

Getting Started

(above) This is our most recent family picture taken on the 4th of July before Ryan left

Well... I took Grandma's suggestion, and thought that I would try this whole blog thing. I am not sure how well I will keep it updated but I will sure try. It sounds like fun! I don't have tons of time to sit at the computer ( I have 2 outgoing children who like to keep their mommy busy!)

Let's see.... Ryan is in Virginia, he has been there since July and will stay there until December (just before Christmas). He got a new job at the Site (INL). It is a great job and pays well, but it has been hard for all of us. It has made me realize just how much I rely on him. I sure do love him. It is hard for the kids though, especially Jordan. Every night when he says his prayers he says "Please bless Daddy, Please help Daddy, Please help us love Daddy" That is routine, it's like clock work. It is really cute. You can tell he is a fan of his dad. This part really breaks my heart though...sometimes Jordan will sit on the stairs and just start crying and say "I don't want my Daddy to be in Virginia anymore", those are the times when I wish there were something I could do for him. Elly, she doesn't really know he's gone, or at least doesn't act like it.

I have started my third year of teaching. So far this year has been great. I think it will be a good year, much better than last year. I am now the second counselor in the young women's presidency. I LOVE IT!!! I feel the spirit all the time and I just love those girls.