Quit Crapping Your Pants!!!

So a while ago we went with my family to the Ramp Riot which was a big Motocross and BMX show. They had gotten free tickets from a fertilizer guy (or something of the like) and not to miss out on any parties, especially free ones, we were all over it. 

We ate dinner at Texas Roadhouse which was a real shame because that was during the part of this pregnancy where eating meat made me sick. So I stuck with rolls and mashed potatoes and salad. I do not know why anyone would willingly put themselves through the torture that is vegetarianism. 

Then we went to the Mini-Dome to watch the show. They had huge jumps set up and were pulling out some pretty big tricks. We were enjoying the show and definitely enjoying our Mini-Dome ice cream (because really, why else would you go to the Mini-Dome if not to get some of their ice cream?) when the evening took a turn for the worse. 

The guy sitting in front of us with his family must have had one heck of a sick stomach and wanted everyone around him to know it. Kolton had the good luck to be sitting right behind him and oh my heck. Stinkiest worst thing ever. And they just kept coming. Kolton was getting rather disgusted and then flew right by disgusted and became absolutely livid. At one point during the show he yelled, "Quit crapping your pants!!!!" and then I died laughing. And then when Tylee and Tyrel heard they died laughing too. And when we finally got out of that show and back with my family and told them about it they couldn't quit laughing either. All the way home. I'm pretty sure their esteem of Kolton rose about 10 points that day. So I guess it was worth it! 

School Wrap-Up

The last few weeks of school were some busy ones! It seems like so long ago now, I hope I can remember! 

We had teacher appreciation week which is always my favorite! But unfortunately I caught the flu and stayed home during two of the days that week so I didn't feel as much appreciation as I wish I had! The PTO brought in treats every day of the week and of course the one week we have treats I had to miss out. And staying home from school really isn't all that fun. I just sit and stew about what is going on and hope everything is going according to plan and that the kids are being good. So it was nice to go back later that week. 

We also took a little field trip that I thought was super fun. We went to the Craze and played laser tag, mini golf, and arcade games and then took a tour of BYU-Idaho. We went to the planetarium and watched a movie about under the sea dinosaurs which the kids loved and then went to the Geology Museum, the Food Services, and the Wildlife Museum. It was a good time! 

The last week of school was nuts of course. Monday was Memorial Day and then Tuesday was the day of our Research Project Presentations. The kids worked so hard on their projects and it was fun to watch them present! They wrote two page typed essay about their topic (someone from American History), made a poster, found a costume, and wrote and memorized a one minute speech to present. They all did so great and I just loved that project. 

That week we also had Field Day which was super fun and then it was the last day! Those kids worked their fannies off for me! They were great. I had to clean out the room (both my stuff and whatever else was in there) for the new teacher and was feeling overwhelmed at the task. But when I saw that I had 21 kids with nothing to do all day I decided to take advantage of it. And I worked them hard. Everybody had jobs and I didn't do any work at all! I just bossed kids around all day which is something I'm really good at. I had some kids help me dejunk shelves and drawers and got a kick out of their expressions when I handed them huge stacks of paper and told them to throw it away. We went through many trash bags that day but by the end of the day the room was all cleaned out. The kids were so great and helpful and I don't know how I could have done it without them. Then we went to the gym for the last hour of the day and had a little dance and then turned them loose for summer! It was definitely a bittersweet day. I am totally okay with being done teaching but I will miss hanging out with those kids every day. They were such great kids and just so fun. I definitely learned a lot from those two years of teaching and I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything. But I am also ready to have just one kid to take care of and make sure she is behaving. But I will miss it!

The Fourth

Over the Fourth of July weekend we were super busy! We had 2 family reunions to hit so basically our weekend consisted of a lot of driving. But we still had a nice time. The first reunion was the Mickelsen reunion in Island Park. On Thursday I had to go to Girl's Camp for dinner and testimony meeting so I talked Kolton into coming with me and we could just leave straight from camp. He finally agreed, so that's what we did. I don't think he was too impressed with Girl's Camp. It wasn't rugged enough for him and there was a lot of singing. But I sure had a nice time! From there we grabbed Addi and had her ride with us to Island Park. It was quite a drive late at night and we were all a little sleepy so to keep us awake we started making up a poem, each taking a turn to write a line. Kolton was hesitant at first, but once he started he really got on a roll and made up basically the entire last half of the poem by himself. We thought we were quite funny.

One summer night we hit the road 

By the light the full moon bestowed,

Headed to celebrate the day

Now that we're all done with hay,

With my wife beside me nagging all the way

I will listen carefully to what she has to say (because it's so important),

We saw many cops along our route 

We are not sure what they are all about,

Time soon told why they were out

I'm sure when he handed them the ticket they began to pout, 

On we headed through the night 

Our eyelids putting up quite a fight, 

But not our trusty pilot he is steady and sure 

Try writing poetry that's the cure, 

Our poor prego has lost control

We were soon on bathroom patrol,

With all other stores out of site

Last Chance looked to be right,

11:06 time ticking away 

We were anxious about our day of play,

Addi stinks she hasn't showered 

She's getting smellier by the hour, 

The top of the summit we are getting near 

To our destination we are close my dear,

On and on we think and drive

What next line can we derive,

It's getting late our minds are mush

Addi has lost interest in this stuff,

And so our poetry must come to an end

As Brevan would say "That's the end my friend."

The next day we got out on the water and did some wakeboarding. There were only a few tears as we tried to convince the kids to get out there. When we had had a gut full we headed back to the cabin, ate lunch, and then I settled in with my book for the rest of the afternoon. Kolton took a boatload (literally!) of people out again and they were gone for a couple hours. Meanwhile I read and read and applied sunscreen and ate Otter Pops. It was fabulous. 

That night we ate dinner and had s'mores and went to bed. The next morning Kolton and I jetted out while the rest of the family ran the little Island Park race. We had many miles to travel and were headed to Malad for the Hansen reunion. 

We got to the campground around noon and visited for a little bit. Then I was starving so Kolton, Tyson, and I went into Malad to grab some lunch. Then we came back and visited some more and played a few rounds of cards. Later that night we had a little program where we played Jeopardy and answered questions about the original Hansen family. Our team won no thanks to us (although we did know a couple of the answers). 

Then before the fireworks started we decided to take a little ride up to see the spring. And it was beautiful up there! You wouldn't believe that all that beauty is just a few miles from the freeway. 

Then we drove to Malad and watched the fireworks which were a pretty decent show! I know Kolton wasn't dying on going to the fireworks, but I just love them too much and he is a sport. Luckily Kirt and Sandra had reserved some rooms at a little Bed and Breakfast near the campground. And it was the cutest little b&b I've ever seen! It was also great to be in an actual bed and not a tent. Especially because we woke up the next morning to rain, rain, rain. All that rain continued through breakfast and the little Sunday service and only let up as we were heading out. 

And that was our weekend! It was a good one filled with family and good food and fireworks. Cant' get much better than that!

Test-Run

So a while ago we had our first little test-run as parents. We have been parents to Brevan and Addi before but it's not really the same. There's nothing we can do to fix them at this point. Oh, and they are kind of old and can take care of themselves basically. 

So when Shannon asked us to watch Emme for the weekend we were a tiny bit nervous but also excited. It got even better when Calvin decided that he wanted to stay with us too. The first little bit Emme was upset but she calmed down and was great the rest of the time! That night we played and ate dinner and hung out. It was pretty low key and a good night! That Calvin is quite the talker and about everything he says is hilarious. I learned a lot about baby hopping cows throughout the whole weekend among other things. When I got Emme to go to sleep I laid her in the pack n' play in the spare bedroom. I was nervous about Calvin getting to sleep because I worried that he would get scared. But he was great! 

We turned on Magic School Bus on Netflix which took both of us back to our childhoods and to my surprise Calvin loved it! We had set him up a little bed on the couch with the John Deere blanket. We figured he would fall asleep during the show but after three episodes he was still going strong! Kolton on the other hand had falled asleep on the floor. I was doing everything I could not to upset Calvin because I worried that it would be a slippery slope but when he asked for a fourth show I had to say no. And he was just fine. I ran him to the bathroom and then laid down next to him on the couch while he fell asleep. It was 10 by then and he was a little worried about the tiny bit of light coming through the slits of the closed blinds. So I closed them the other way and then tried really hard not to laugh when he asked me to push the button on his pillow pet that he was using as a pillow to make it light up. It didn't take too long for him to drift off and then I had to rouse Kolton to come to bed. Man, putting three kids to bed can be a lot of work! 

Emme slept til about two and then woke up and was very upset so I had the brilliant idea to bring her into bed with us. It was quite the night from that point on. She slept pretty good but would wake up and whimper about every hour or so. All it took to get her back to sleep was a little "shhh..." and pat on the back. So it could have been a lot worse. But there definitely was not enough room for the three of us in our little bed, especially with a squirmy baby who was kind of all over the place. She pretty much took up the middle while Kolton and I clung to the edges. 

The next morning we had breakfast and then Kolton took Calvin to work and Emme and I hung around the house. It was pretty rainy and wet outside so Kolton rigged up some rain boots for Calvin by putting bread bags and rubber bands over his shoes. I died laughing but also recognized the brilliance of the idea. While the boys were gone Emme and I cleaned up (turns out syrup and kids is not the greatest idea) played and then cuddled up on the couch and took a little nap. 

After our nap I fixed us a little lunch. While we were eating I kept hearing a wailing sound. I could only hear it every so often because I had the fan going but I couldn't figure out what it was. I thought it was probably Calvin but when he and Kolton never came in the house I didn't know what to think. Finally I checked outside and of course, there was Calvin and he was soooo sad. I felt awful! He had to go potty so Kolton dropped him off (I have no idea why he didn't bring him inside or at least TELL me that he had left him.) and he had come to our front door which no one ever uses and couldn't get it open. He had had an accident since he had been sitting outside for forever and I just felt so so so so bad. So I brought him inside and put him in the bath and basically asked what I could get him to make up for our parenting fail and make him happy. He requested 5 M&Ms. I can do that! By the time he got out of the bath he was happy again. 

But from that point on our relaxing afternoon turned a little hectic. After Calvin got out, I stuck Emme in the bath because she had ended up with peanut butter in her hair. Then I made Calvin lunch and Kolton lunch and because we were trying to go on a date that night I was trying to get ready and clean up and pack up the kids and it was a lot of work! 

But we got it all done and really did have a good time! And because we kept our heads above water we decided that maybe we can handle one baby. Maybe. 

Beehive Trip

We again got crazy and took our Beehives up to Island Park for the weekend. This time they had to read the Book of Mormon in 4 months. It took a few of them a little longer, but since our trip got delayed so many times, they were all able to finish before we went. We left after school and headed up after a brief stop at Broulim’s.

On the way we got in a huge traffic jam. There had been a wreck and traffic was way backed up while they brought in Life Flight. When we realized we would be there awhile we turned off the pickup. And sure enough our little Duke friend ( who I know I didn’t invite on this little venture) jumped out. He was exploring a little and ran up a few cars. We watched while a little family got out and pet him and loved on him. Then pretty soon they pulled out some food and he was munching away. I don’t know what made him do it, but after he had eaten a little he hightailed it out of there and jumped inside the pickup through one of the open doors(which honestly, he NEVER does). I was just trying to shoo him out when that lady from the car ahead of us came running up. “I am so sorry about that!” she said as she tried to get him to come out of the pickup. It was at this point I realized that lady was trying to dog-nap Duke right in front of our eyes. “Um, he’s our dog…” I started to explain. “Oh!” she said with this shocked look on her face. “He’s just kind of skinny and we pick up dogs all the time! We’ve got like 6 right now that we have picked up from different places.” I didn’t have the heart to tell her that maybe she should check out some “Lost Dog” signs and maybe return some of the children’s pets she has probably stolen. Seriously though, there’s a line of at least 50 cars on the road right now. Why would your first thought  be that it’s an abandoned dog? Anyway, after that incident we kept Duke close by by having the girls play fetch with him. They loved it.

When we finally got to the cabin we started cooking up some hamburgers and Kolton made the best ever fries. He should not have showed me that he knows how to do that. Then we played some games late into the night. Signs and the Mafia card game were the favorites. 

We also needed some kind of dessert and had bought ice cream and all sorts of junk to make some milkshakes. However, the blender was nowhere to be found. So Krystal and I decided to be like Cold Stone and just mix up the ice cream and toppings on the counter. We were much more excited about this than the girls, and their excitement faded even more after we made the first one and it was a huge drippy mess. Then they all said they would just put the toppings on their ice cream in their bowls. So, so much for that. It sounded like a lot more fun than it really was. 

When it was time to go to bed I sorely regretted that hamburger as I was sick alllll night long. I’ll spare the details. (It was so good it was almost worth it though.)

The next morning we took it easy, cleaned up, and headed out. The girls were all wore out and we were too. It was a fun little party and we had a blast!

Quick Random Thoughts

So. I am currently waiting for Kolton to get home from work. And decided to just type and type and get all my random thoughts down while I’m waiting. He said he’d be home 30 minutes ago and has yet to show up. I have learned to start dinner about the time he says he’ll be home because he is always late. Always. Except one time when he was actually on time and couldn’t believe that I didn’t have dinner ready and waiting. I had to remind him that that day had been an anomaly.

Anyway, that’s life at this current point in time. I think Kolton is mostly loving the fact that I am unemployed about as much as I am. I made a checklist the day I got out of school with all the things that I want to accomplish this summer and every day I wake up, go for a walk with my mom, and then pick what I want to do off that list. No responsibility has been the best thing to ever happen to me and I am trying to soak it in as much as possible because I know that life is going to change in a big way in about 3 months which completely terrifies me. I am not a lover of change. In fact, I hate it. The unknown is what scares me and this babe definitely falls in that category. But the days march on and I cross things off my list and the day we get to meet her is getting closer and closer. And while the logical and fundamental part of my brain recognizes that that is a good thing, the larger and irrational part is absolutely terrified. And I know how that sounds coming from someone who just wrote 4 long posts about how badly she wants a baby, but this is honesty. I’m scared out of my mind, but I also think that it just has to be good. It’s just been Kolton and I for so long so this is really going to change things up in hopefully a good way and give life a little more purpose.

Anyway, it really is fun to feel her bumping along inside me all day long. She’s not a big mover but she definitely saves her biggest kicks for when Kolton has his hand on my belly. I’m trying to decide if that means she likes him, or doesn’t like him. However she’s feeling now, I know it’ll only be a matter of time before she is smitten with him. He is the biggest softy of all time, and I’m excited to see them together.

Angela and Brianna threw me the best ever bridal shower before school ended. I left with quite a haul and I was so grateful for everyone who thought of me and was so sweet. That was a fun day. Even better was when I got home and spread everything out on the floor of the spare bedroom/hopefully soon to be baby room. I went in there and just looked at everything often. Since then we have bought a couple outfits and I dug up a baby quilt my Grandma Mickelsen had made. Seeing all this stuff makes it seem a little more real.

I am almost done with my spring cleaning list (SOOO CLOSE!) and once I finish that I will be able to focus on fun things like getting the baby room together and sewing and other little projects. So that’s what I’ve mainly been doing so far this summer and what the aforementioned list mainly consisted of. Anyway, this has been about the most random assortment of thoughts there ever was, but here it is.  

Animals are just not my favorite

We have had quite a few run-ins with different members of the Animal Kingdom lately and they have just not been my favorite. 

The first run-in was with a certain skunk that decided he needed to move in to the space between our house and doghouse. Our dog started barking in the middle of the night for about 2 minutes before he finally quit. Right about that time, since I was already awake I took a little trip to the bathroom, something I do quite frequently these days. It was then that I smelled that distinct skunky odor and knew that we would have a problem in the morning. But I was also sure that our Duke was worth something and had surely chased off the skunk. 

Turns out that Duke is completely worthless because although he had barked for a short time he had done absolutely nothing about the skunk who wandered from the corner by our house, clear across our yard, and finally settled in the space right behind the doghouse where Duke was sleeping. So I was not too happy with him when Kolton went out the door the next morning to check on the situation and found that nasty ole skunk just chillin and smelling up our house. We really didn’t know what to do about the situation because any harm we caused him (including death) would result in him emptying his stink bag right up next to our house. So we debated on what to do for a bit until Kolton got the brilliant idea to give him a taste of his own medicine. He pulled out the pepper spray that my dad had gifted me 10 years ago at Girl’s Camp to protect me from bears and sprayed it in that skunk’s face. Multiple times. While it didn’t make the skunk go anywhere Kolton said he was pretty sure it’s eyes were watering (that kind of made me feel bad) and decided that was all he could do and then just left.

 So I avoided going outside and when Krystal came to visit that afternoon, hours later, she confirmed that he was still holed up. I got nervous that he would make a home of it, but the next morning he was gone! And hasn’t returned. So that’s the end of that, I hope.

The next instance was on a Sunday evening. We had just come home from dinner and a nap at my parents’ and were getting ready to go on a Sundee drive when I saw Duke bark at something under the doghouse. I mentioned that to Kolton and he went to investigate. When I heard him exclaim, “It’s a packrat!” I immediately scooted my booty into the house and observed from behind the screen door. Kolton ran to the garage to grab a shovel and our edger. He was using the shovel as a level to lift the house (it really is a monstrosity) and then sliding the edger underneath it to get the rat to come out. He was having a little difficulty with this plan and said the following to me, “Come out here! Ah! It’s HUGE! Come out and help me!” to which I obviously replied, “There is no way in heck I am coming out there.” Luckily he was able to do it on his own (I knew he could) and then sicked that Duke on the rat. He proved to be much more effective in this situation and we soon had ourselves a big ole giant dead rat. Bleh. Still makes me shudder. 

(On another note, a day later my mom had a packrat at her house. He was a smart sucker and avoided the poison and traps they spread everywhere as he went about clipping flowers for his nest. Really, FLOWERS were what he was after. I thought this was especially sweet and sensitive of him. One morning Brevan saw him climbing on the side of the house (Again, shudder…) and ran in to tell my dad. My dad came running out of the bedroom pulling on his pants and yelling, “Get the gun!” When they discovered him in his nest under the air conditioning unit it took 3 shots to put him down. Yeesh.)

The final instance again involved Duke. I was outside playing fetch with him and examining how my flower beds were coming along when suddenly something big and hard whacked me right smack on top of the head. The whole top of my head felt like it had been bashed in and I immediately was taken back to elementary school days when I would be running around the playground unsuspectingly and get smacked on top of the head by an errant basketball. This happened more than once and was EXACTLY what it felt like that day in my yard. I even looked at the grass around me fully expecting to see a basketball lying there. But nothing. Then I looked for a big stick, still nothing. By then, the shock had worn off and the whole top of my head was really starting to hurt. I started walking quickly away from the scene of the accident and brushed my hand on the top of my head, it came away with a streak of blood on it. So then I kind of flipped out and didn’t know what the heck to do so I got in my car and got outta dodge. The only thing that I could figure at this point was that I had been attacked by a bird. A very large bird, in fact probably the hawk that I see hanging around our house all the time. I grabbed a Kleenex and was trying to stop the bleeding as I called Kolton and drove down the road to my mom’s. I didn’t know why I was going there, I was just kind of freaked at the moment. As soon as Kolton answered the phone I started bawling. My head really did hurt but I think more I was just kind of terrified. I told him that I had been attacked by a bird and as I said the words I started laughing too. So I’m laughing and crying and on the phone and driving and still trying to stop the bleeding. Of course he and my family all thought it was very amusing, because it really is. And still, I do not know what in the heck happened out there. There had been no birds swooping at me or anything! I really think it was a hawk because of the scratch that was left on the top of my head from his talons probably and the fact that it wasn’t just a little bump but a big smack that covered my whole head. Anyway, I have been a little more careful about examining my flowers these days and just watching my step when I walk around my yard in general.