Rantings about our dentist (You're fired!)

On Tuesday I took Evelyn to the dentist. She needed to have a cavity filled, waaahhhhh. I picked this dentist when I saw their online pictures of their friendly office and waiting area. It is decorated with a Noah's ark theme, and they also use kid-friendly dentist terms like "Mr. Thirsty", and "counting teeth". Last week the kids enjoyed video games and tv in the pre-waiting room, then being called back to the kids playroom (more tv and video games) and then being seen by the hygienist and dentist, even though the entire process took 3 hours for 3 kids.

Back to Evelyn's visit. She was nervous about having a cavity filled. She was also suddenly shy since there were no siblings to help her through the visit. So, I promised her I would go back with her. Oops. They didn't allow me to. They didn't even let me go to the kids' playroom area with her. She screamed. A lot. I should have just pulled her out of there, but I convinced myself it was a little bit like nursery at church, and she would calm down and it would be a growing experience. I was ushered firmly back into the pre-waiting room and I stewed and worried there. Then, 50 MINUTES LATER, they clarified her treatment plan and let me know they were just about to take her back. Why did they have to separate my terrified child from me for 50 minutes?

I kind of understand a policy to not have the parent there for the procedure (although I have held my kids' hands during cavity treatment before). I do not understand having separate waiting areas when both are very kid-(albeit tv)-friendly. I also do not like the idea of giving a child ICE CREAM without my permission after having a cavity filled. More business? Not from me. I'll take my seven kids elsewhere, thank you.

Lesson learned: Trust my instincts. Be a mom.

Before and After

I wish we had taken "before" pictures of our home. Or maybe the term should be "between". As in, when the movers dumped everything all over our home, stirred it up with some giant spoon, and left us to figure out the mess. For example, I had the toys separated perfectly (I am an organizational nerd) and I guess that when they packed they dumped everything in a couple of large boxes. Little star wars lego pieces with all other dinosaurs, cars, large legos, wooden toys, strawberry shortcake... all mixed together, this time perhaps with a whisk. Why did I organize everything so meticulously BEFORE we moved? We had to do it all over again when they dumped. Talk about tornado rooms. I mean, we had the bookshelves assembled and where did they put the books? On the floor next to the shelves. Not neatly piled, but bent flaps and paperbacks. And we have a lot of books.

No more complaining. AFTER a lot of work this past week, we are moved in.

I like the built in shelves

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Bookshelves in the landing, one of my favorite areas of the house

Our stairs wrap around, so at most, this cutie pie could fall down 5 stairs...

The stairs and landing look over a large dining room/piano room.

And I love my happy poster.

Barf Humbug and a Happy New Year

Note to self.

Do not attempt to move at Christmas time, do a "moving vacation", and above all try really, really, really hard to not have vomiting children during a move. Experiencing all three at the same time is too un-fun.

We had a great Christmas season, despite having barfing children. After New Years celebrations, we left Utah for a fun trip to Las Vegas. We wanted to visit temples along the way to Texas, and we thought we could do a kid-friendly version of Las Vegas. There are a lot of fun things to do there, but we had to play the "close your eyes until we get there" game. We cut our vacation short after Leslie sprained her ankle for the second time in a week, and when the kids started throwing up (again). We needed laundry facilities! We camped out in our empty rental home for a few days (but at least had a washer and dryer) and now we are in the chaos of unpacking and finding a place for everything, even if it is the dumpster or donation pile.

We enjoyed our first week at church, even though it seems like a very small chapel (6 rows of pews in the chapel). The people were super friendly and the peace that the gospel brings is constant. I love that.

Here is to a productive and un-vomiting week!

This is me, in my true form, being a dork. Enjoy.

Brackium Emendo!

Yup, another memorable evening...

Jonas broke his arm when he fell off a trampoline. "Mom, something is wrong with my arm..." Indeed there was; his arm looked like Harry Potter's floppy arm in book/movie #2. Bob headed straight back to work, spending another 6 hours at the hospital. Of course Jonas did great, never complained, and was a perfect patient. (We as parents complained more!) We never expected Jonas to have the first broken bone in our family... knowing our boys, it won't be the last...

1 night down, 6 weeks to go.

Stupid grinch spoon e

The e on our kyboard isn't working vry wll, so it is too annoying to typ anything. And today is vlyn's 2nd birthday. It rally is frustrating! Happy Birthday Vlyn! (Prhaps w found a nw nicknam for hr!)

This sucks...or doesn't

You know you have a problem when you want to only use the hose section of your vacuum to clean your house. You have an even bigger problem when your hose shrivels up and dies and stops suctioning and you want to use your handheld dustbuster to clean the house. You have an evenBIGGER problem when the dustbuster doesn't work! Has it been six months? Yes? Time to go to the store.
ARGHHH! Are we the only family that vacuums don't work for?
We've tried changing the belts, bags, there is no clog... We seem to buy vacuums every six to nine months. No kidding. We are afraid to spend more than $150 every six months... That would be horrible to buy a $300 vacuum and replace it every six months.
Just venting.

ACK! and It's Spring... A combo post

Our computer is down! And nothing is backed up! Bob is going to call Apple and we are hopefully going to fix this. The laptop is serving just fine as a replacement for now, but I miss all my charts, homeschool ideas and bookmarks, and photos (they serve as our screen saver and as entertainment for the kids during mealtimes).

Meanwhile, we have been working in the front yard, planting a peach tree, buying MORE dirt for our veggie garden, mowing the lawn/weeds, and general outside sprucing up. I also have been going through the kids clothes and organizing the drawers and closets. Spring has sprung!