Who fell asleep first?

Let me just wrap up the day for you.

We got up and took grandma to the airport. Then we went to the social security office. We were there TEN minutes after they opened and we still waited 45 minutes. Got Ash's SS number/name fixed up. Went to the library. Got treats. Came home.

Talked to fabulous neighbor Bugs. Ellie took a nap and Ashley and I headed out to do our community service project.

BEFORE:

Bugs and I moved 9,765,456,345 tumbleweeds. We cleaned of all those tumbleweeds (dried and POKY) from the three lots next to mine. Then we put them all in the pits. It was good. My arms have scratches and I am sure hers do too.

AFTER:



It looks AWESOME! And don't worry fellow neighbors, I will put my journalist-phoning skills to use to make sure the weeds do NOT return this summer. Then I worked on our yard: pulled up weeds, mowed the lawn, cleaned stuff, weed-wacked. At 6:08 p.m. the girls are in the bathtub and I am making dinner. Josh arrives. We eat. We socialize with some potential neighbors. I have a lovely, hot bath. Almost fall asleep.

Put girls to bed. Am on the floor singing to them and all of a sudden I wake up and am vaguely aware that the music stopped. Everyone is dead quiet. So..... who fell asleep first .. me or them?

Busy busy

Well I have been busy playing with my mommy and sisters. Today Heather and Sara and Emma came to play. We started the day early with waffles and then the girls watched a little TV:

Then Ellie prepared a snack for everyone (fruit and bread pudding - she dished it out):

Then we talked and talked and it was tons of fun.

Momma and me finished tying this t-shirt quilt I have been working for for a few years. It is NOT perfect, but it is done and warm! Mom is also phone-consulting Heather, the Bluemlein-family-scrapbooking-queen on dates (apparently Heather is left with just random birthday pictures, so she is counting candles on cakes and trying to figure out who had what birthday cake what year).

Monday we sat around, had naps, worked on not being sick and talked. Sunday more of the same -Josh even made me come home early from church -so I had another nice nap. I am feeling LOTS better.

This weekend Josh fixed Danell's computer. Check out the DUST!! (be sure to air-blow out your computer every once in a while).

The war

Well the victory is pretty sure but the bugs are putting up a good fight. Now I just cough all the time. And want to lay on the couch and stare at the wall. Yah for drugs!

Can I just complain about stupid students for one second? The deadline for their work is Friday at midnight. I have had at least 20 (TWENTY) emails complaining they couldn't get the work done by Thursday night. HELLO?! Friday at midnight is ONE minute AFTER 11:59 p.m. NOW they can't even tell time?!?!?!?! AHAHAHA.

Here are some cute pictures, since that is cheery.

My mommy is here to play this week! Yah! Here is my favorite Auntie K enjoying the Utah spring.

And the girls enjoying the sunshine and swing set

Our local grocery gives out free balloons (a big draw). Ashley was so attached to hers, she got up and put her balloon back on her wrist during nap time and then fell back asleep- CUTE!!

And a classic bathtub shot: (the water is yellow on PURPOSE (bath dyes) don't freak out!)

Winning side

Don't worry - it was a tough fight but last night the antibiotics turned the tide and started to win the war. The sinus infection/sore throat/ouchy ears/horrible cough will be vanquished! And the no-talking throat - I can talk a little better today.

I am better after several naps in the car. All I want to do is lay on the couch and maybe read a book. Thanks to my great orthodontist who gave me some drugs quick so I didn't get even sicker. Allergy season SUCKS. I am SO glad it is raining outside! (washing away all those 'extremely high' tree pollens) I even opened the windows again. Yah rain!

Shopping sisters

Today we got to spent the day with Auntie K and Grandma in Provo. Both lovely ladies arrived yesterday and Auntie stayed at our house last night. I went to the orthodontist early this a.m. and then we headed off to Provo (with my sore tooth that is apprently suppose to be moving somewhere).

We did some craftie shopping for Auntie so that she can develop her creative skills. We had YUMMY lunch with LOTS of desserts. We went shopping for some new clothes for Auntie (she also lives in a little town and does all her big shopping on her trips to Utah). I also got some drugs for my sinus/bad throat/I hate the start of spring illness.

At the mall we realized there were three sets of sisters shopping! So of course we had to have a clerk take a picture to memoralize the event.

Everyone liked holding hands (and swinging)

Poor Heather stayed home with a horrible backache from running like 27 miles yesterday. Recover quickly sister! I had a LOVELY nap on the couch and then we drove home.

This evening a woman from an adoption agency called us and asked if we were interested in adopting a little African American boy, due next week in Texas. We said no. It was WEIRD to say no. But we think Ash need a bit more time to settle in. We are going to start some of the paperwork again in June.

Sleeping is SO nice

As you recall from former bloggs, I have had some ongoing sleeping issues. I was pondering on that a lot and then it came to me one day that my allergy medicine was the problem. So I started switching them around and trying the other available drugs on the market. Well I found one -and let me just tell you = SLEEPING IS AWESOME! Last night I slept more than SIX HOURS at ONE TIME. This is major news. I am SO happy. Yah for pondering and inspiration!

My mommy is coming to play this week - we are SUPER excited to see her and Ellie really wants to bake her a cake (her own idea) and play hide and seek. Sara, my sister, is graduation from the big BYU on Friday - yah Sara!

This weekend Josh had to work on Friday. The girls stayed in their jammies a while and were:

Playing games:

Playing tent:

Playing blinds:
(why this is amusing, I don't know)
They finally got the trailer for the new laser fixed all up (ordered and last week the correct flooring installed). Now they have to put the new laser in it before testing begins next month. This trailer is cool (like all $85K of it) - there is a big bed for the laser that will lift it up to the roof. Pretty cool. Here is a bad picture of us on the little elevator:

Saturday we went to O.live Garden because Josh was hungry for it and it was pretty good. Then we did some shopping. I biked 15 miles and ran 3. I am looking for a good triathlon to be in this spring.

Sunday we had a lovely church day and headed up to Logan to see the relatives. Danell hosted a LOVELY lunch and we got all caught up. She is getting a raise/promotion at work - yah! Then we went to introduce Ashley to some of our old friends. They were all excited and it was nice to catch up.

We have LAND!!

I know you are all SUPER excited to see our RECLAIMED LAND! (it makes us sound very environmental). And my GREAT friend Bugs even called to remind me there was a back-hoe in my yard (in case I didn't notice the noise) and to be happy for me. Here are some pictures:

Our land!!! Welcome garden! Welcome sprinkler! Welcome fence! YAH!!!!!!

Also today (for my dear non-Utah readers): it snowed four inches!!

My POOR FLOWERS!!!

Yesterday it was cold so I felt like making bread. Did you know you can raise/proof bread in your MIRCOWAVE? Yep, I tried it and it worked GREAT. Only when I made this - the middle 'fell' - is it because I added raisins?

Here is a picture of the crafty I am trying to finish - the T-shirt quilt I have only been working on for like 3 years. But it got cold = be warm = quilts! I just have to get the top sewn together and I think I will be set.

Newly shorn

All the Herron girls have now had their hair cut this week. Here is my new do - MUCH more organize/proportional/easy to fix. Also it looks more put together and the ends can flip out!

Had a great visit with the sleep doctor today - have a great plan and I am sleeping MUCH better. ( It came to me that it was an allergy drug/sleeping thing - so I am working on that). Went to the library. Alisha (THANK YOU!) watched the girls and now she can exercise child-free all week! (I LOVE trading!) I know you are looking at the picture first - so here it is:

Listen

I love this clip. Only listen to it if you want to be inspired and uplifted. Great music really does touch our souls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY


OK - this is the other one that I love. Seriously - these are the only two clips I have ever watched on Y.ouTube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z4ZsA6X9fA

OK - so now I am surfing that stupid site! Check out dad's response:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLJutYDZH4M&feature=related

THIS weekend!

I spoke with my favorite banker, Jordan, today and he informed me the pit fill-in was approved and the contractor said the work would be done THIS WEEKEND! Flipping happiness!! Yes, now your children will NOT fall into the pit-o-death or scare YOU to death by pretending to fall in. It will be happy times for all. Good-bye pit!

Here is a picture of the girls from OT in Bountiful - she really has a swing right in her office. The 'therapy' room is FUN.
We had a great family-bonding-tickling-playing time tonight - highlighed by daddy being a horse:And bench-pressing the girls:
Here is also a better pic of the new haircuts. Happy Tuesday!

GREAT news, BAD news

We'll start with the bad news. They called me to go into subsitute today from 8 to 12. It wasn't too bad. After, I stopped to get diapers. On my way out of the parking lot - a lady ran into me. Well into the big sexy red van actually. Picture:

Not too bad. I am ok. But now my hip hurts a little bit. Hum.

GREAT news! I talked to the bank guy - and he is recommending they FILL IN all the holes in our neighborhood and the contractor will START the day he get the OK. The meeting to approve all this tomorrow and bank guy is going to call me back to confirm the project will be starting THIS WEEK probably. Bad news - it is suppose to rain for the next two days. AH!

Ashley really likes to run her hands through her hair (hands with sand, playdough, food, snot). So Josh suggested we just get her hair cut short -less trauma for her, less hair combing (of which she is not a big fan), etc. So here is the new do!



The photo from yesterday is of my palm- where I might now have a fakie tattoo. Also I was cutting Ellie's hair when we got home and I totally snipped right at the base of my finger - impossible to bandage or do anything. So after it stopped bleeding all over, I think I will be fine. Is this hand-injury week or what?

Also today I figured out that being a parent means training your CHILD. So if you have to say "walk on the sidewalk, not the lawn it isn't respectful" about 2,543 times in your life - that 1) repeititon is how we learn 2) at least the kid is getting trained in something

Happy Easter!

Wonderful Sharon Gelb from Vincennes sent us a "Welcome Home Ashley" gift. Two CUTE pink dresses for the girls:

So of course we wore them for our Easter dresses today. Wanting to keep in the true, spirit of Easter, we didn't do any bunny stuff. But after church, Josh and I decided to hide the plastic eggs around the family room and let the girls find them. We have done that twice so far and the excitement is growing and both girls are getting better at spotting eggs. It's a good activity right?!

Then after LOVELY naps, we got around to dying eggs:

Now we are making deviled eggs and are going to have yet another round of 'find the eggs.' A good time is being had by all!

We are grateful to our Savior Jesus for His wonderful gift of resurrection, which we rememeber and celebrate at this time of year. Thank you!

Self-inflicted pencil wound

I apparently am some sort of a klutz. Like the time that I was brushing my teeth (apparently forcefully) and I broke my frubelum (that piece of skin between your front lip and front gums). OUCH. And yesterday, while being crafty, apparently I grabbed a pencil at a weird angle, that it gave me a self-inflicted pencil wound that is OUCHY. (It looks WAY worse than this:)

While I am pretty sure I will not die, my new question is: am I going to have a fake tattoo there? It went right under the skin for like an inch. It is pretty dark. I will keep you updated.

Also yesterday, I craftied up the piano! Before:

After: (notice padded bench cover, piano runner, re-fixed pictures and vase to be crafty). Happy Easter!

Working

There is a great book by Studs Turkle called "Working" - he was a famous writer who just interviewed people about their jobs. Also a musical.

So I was working today - subbing at the applied tech center here in town. Truth be told, pretty boring. No one had a question I could answer ("where are the disks" and "What is the test code?" - I did not know those. But I was ready to answer other questions about their work!)

Survived that. Told some jokes. Picked up the girls (thanks Alisha!), work online (ugh), made dinner. Going to eat dinner now. Maybe more later.

Respect

So there was a great conference talk yesterday about respect. Since we are very interested in teaching our girls to respect others and their stuff, I was very interested. I was especially interested in the part about calling adults (or others, or something, but this is what I got out of it) by respectful names.

I have been thinking about that for a bit now. I think it is OK for adults, in a friendly, community setting to call each other by their first names. But I DO NOT think it is respectful for my GIRLS to call MY friends by their first names. So do we do last names + Mrs? Or do we do last name + Sister? But then that is sort of discriminating against our non-Mormon friends. Do we call them something different - which is sort of weird?

A cute former neighbor had their children call us "Miss Ann" and Miss Heather" (obviously my sister and I) years ago and I liked that. But Mrs. Kellie? That's sort of weird. Ideas? We are going to impliment this program soon, so leave comments!

Food storage

Once again S.mith's had a HUGE sale on food and Heather and I felt the urge to stock up. We craftied up an 'on sale' list and hit the stores with our three little girls in tow. In one store there was a cart full of little girls, and two carts full of food. At another store, Heather got brownie mix for 25 cents a box!! You go shopper girl! Here is a picture of my newly re-organized and stocked cold storage area:


And the stuffed pantry - all organized, in part, thanks to Heather (and Cousin Sally). You rock!

Conference Weekend!

"Favorite Auntie" Heather, Awesome Uncle Jason, Cousin Emma and Fabulous Auntie Sara came to play for the whole conference weekend. Of course there was WAY too much eating (and after cousin Sally arrived...let's just give you a sample...cheesecake brownies, shortbread cookies, lush angel food cake, frog eye salad, giant chocolate chip cookies, crackers and cheese, strawberry fruit pizza, biscotti cookies, butter cookies.... I am sure you are getting the drift. And those were only the DESSERTS!

Here are some great pics of our fun times: Auntie Heather is a great horse

Everyone started out watching conference.....

and then......

Some of my favorite people enjoying the soothing conference voices.....

Ashley is getting more and more adventeous in her eating - you should have seen her eat the batter on this beater! Go Ashley!

Heather "Crafter Extraordinarie" craftied up Ashley (and some butterflies) into the farm mural on the girls' wall:

AND craftied up my pantry - to fit more food storage into it:

Here is a picture of the girls, from like 69 seconds ago (Ellie (while I am sneaking an updated picture of the farm mural) "Mommy, take a picture of ME.") NOT asleep. No BTF tonight!

Two year olds

So here is a question for all my experienced mommy friends out there. When your two year old only wants to watch TV all day long is 1) she sick and just doesn't feel good and wants to lay on the couch? Or 2) addicted to cartoons and turning into a TV-sloth? Comments would be appreciated.

Mark the date!

I AM SO EXCITED!!! After 37.9 years of life....on Aug. 24, 2009 - my jaw will be 10 millimeters longer!!

Yes, the day has been set for the last big stage of my braces - the jaw surgery (it has some big long name that I can't remember). YAH!!! Don't worry that 10 mm is too big - the record was 18 mm of movement. Crazy!

Here is an updated picture of my teeths.

And here is a picture of our cute girls playing store.

Thanks to Uncle Mike for feeding the girls during the jaw-man appointment. And Josh ordered our tickets to Florida - yah! Happy Wednesday!