DUCT TAPE!!!!!!

For the record, duct tape does fix everything.
Here is my confession of the week. .....A little background info......I thought I was being really cool trying to save money this year by buying shoes from Payless. They had the buy one get one half price sale. Not too bad. Unfortunately, my kids managed to wear them out in record time. So we ended up buying more shoes for them as winter in the Antelope Valley was not over yet.(This would not have been the case if we still lived in AZ as winter usually only lasts two weeks!) So once again, I found myself out there looking for a bargain. And once again I was so proud of myself when I found shoes on closeout at Target, $8.00 each. I knew that I was rocking the bargain world. (No ,I did not learn my lesson the first time, I was100% positive that I had just found "lemons" and the next ones would be better.)

Hmmmmmm...... Well, the reason they were so cheap is just that...... they were cheap. Okay, not too bad as we live in California and it was sandal time. So I bought sandals and the weather had been cooperating and the kids have been wearing them. However, much to my dismay, the weather is all over the grid. It gets HOT and then FREEZES the next day. (okay maybe not freezing by Utah standards, but definitely so for CA or AZ) Which meant that I had to pull the shoes out again this week. Well they were worn out beyond hope. Toes sticking out the end, side, and bottom. I had to do something. I was not going to buy more shoes as the kids would for sure wear them out in a week and then it will be sandal season . But by the time we need shoes again in the Fall ,they will not fit. My monkeys feet are growing at a super sonic speed right now.

This was my solution for the rest of the week. DUCT TAPE!! Next time I will try my red version of duct tape. Not pretty. But the kids loved it and IT WORKS!!!! (Do you suppose it would work on the knees of jeans too?)

Hope you are all having a great week. Happy Memorial Day, my friends.

Urgent Care Fun!!!!

I decided to just lump our latest urgent care trips into one post. You can do what I did when I saw them. Giggle and shake my head. Seriously, we keep the medical professionals in business!!!

This is Tanner. He was playing football with his brothers when one of them accidently kicked him and his thumb went all the way back. Not broken, just sprained but 2 hours at the urgent care.(Each time we have a broken arm, Tanner thinks it is so cool and he has wished he would break his arm. That would be four different broken arms on various kiddos. Each time I tell him it is not fun and it would be painful. After this experience....... he has decided he never wants a broken bone!!! Yea!! Progress. )

Next we have spring break in Utah. This is also another one of those giggle moments. We rarely make a trip without ending up in the ER. Luckily this time it was not a result of a broken bone. Hunter, who you know, never sits still, is never quiet when he is sick had been down for three days. He was High School Musical over and over. Finally, night 3 still sick with a fever, the runs, had started throwing up and was in severe pain. The docs thought it might be appendicitis.

So at 11:00 at night my Dad and I headed out in the snow to the ER. Thank heavens for great dads who will sit with you late at night. Thank heavens for awesome moms who will watch the rest of the brood so you can go to the ER late at night!! They ran some tests, gave him meds and since he was showing signs of dehydration gave him fluids and at 3:30 we were released with the caution to watch him.

He seemed to perk up alright. However, after we got home he from Spring break he became my unlucky one again. It was a Saturday night. Winding down the day and looking forward to getting kids in bed and watching tv. I had let the kids stay a little later. Bryan and Hunter had gone to the shower together. One of their favorite things to do is dump out all of my shampoo and make the shower slippery. Yea. Well it back fired as they bumped heads. Bryan got a goose egg on his head but Hunter got cut. So off we go to Urgent Care.

For the record........ if your child is bleeding from above the eye....... they will see you faster. :> After only two hours, he came home with five stitches. Our first set of stitches. Not our first cut, but in the past they have been able to glue them shut.

And here we have Nathan. Just last week. Jay, of course, was in the Netherlands for a conference. ( He always seems to miss the fun. ) Friday afternoon, after the doctor office would be closed this is what Nathan comes screaming into the house to show me. GRRRR. I thought about going to urgent care. But decided that I could fix it just as well as they could. So I cleaned it up, butterfly bandaged it and it is healing nicely. Come on "chicks dig scars, right?!?!?!?"

So there you have it. We survived and only with a few scars that will make for great stories when they are older. I still wonder to this day how my mom managed with only two set of stitches and no broken bones with six kids. Have a fabulous day my friends!!!

Are you Stinkin kidding me?!?!?!?!

And I do mean Stinkin!!! Tanner and Hunter are taking an after school biology course. Well the 1st week they had the wonderful opportunity to dissect squids. Yes, that is what you are looking at in the bag and you also read it correctly..... squids. The boys thought they were so very cool they had to bring them home to show us all and gross out the little ones.

Well after seeing this smile on Tanner's face I realized I was in trouble. I let them tell me the gross details of what they learned and looked at the diagrams that they had brought home. I then sat them both down and explained that they must put them in the garbage and why. I told them if they did not put them in the garbage that within a few days I would know for sure because they would start to stink. So out to the garbage they marched and promptly placed them in the trash. Or so I thought. (This is Tuesday)

Well on Wednesday they went to Scouts. I picked them up and they had made cute little garbage bags to hang in the cars. Tanner quickly climbed in the car and showed me his and placed it in the car for dad to use. He was just finishing a juice box and put the box in the trash to "show" me how it would work. He was very proud of himself. I asked Hunter if he was going to put his in the van. He told me he would in a couple of days. When I tucked him in for bed I noticed he had it hanging on the shelf. Cute, I thought he can finally throw trash away and keep his room clean.*giggle*

Well Sunday.........(5 days later) we decided to take a quick trip to Disneyland. It was a great fun day!!! We got home about 8 and the kids were tired. We are frantically getting them ready for bed and Tanner complains that his room smells like the dog had an accident. I go in and look in every nook and cranny to find dog poo, but to no avail. I finally decide it must be something that is stinking outside and since I have left the windows open ithe odor has just snuck in. NOT!!!!!!!Jay was not falling for that one. I go back to rushing kids in and out of the shower to hear a horrible noise as Jay discovers the rotting squid in the cute little trash.

Gross, Gross, Gross. At first I was so frustrated, but then Hunter goes on to tell me how very sad he was that we just killed the squids so we could cut them up and look at them. Then, he told me that he was so sad that he was going to just have to throw it away. How would that mommy of the poor squid feel if she knew her baby was just thrown away. Hmmmmm...... he rendered me speechless. (and for those who know me well, knows this is not an easy thing to do) WOW, where did that come from. Big kind hearts. However, I am still not sure that their room smells normal. But they are boys so that effort may be futile anyway. But I must say I am very proud that these are my boys and they are "good" kids!!!
Sleep well my friends!!!