Halloween, here we come!

The girls were invited to a halloween birthday party and had SO much fun dressing up for it! We went all out on their hair and glitter. Jess is a princess and Syd is a fairy. Can't wait for Halloween!

Boys will be boys

Kayman and I get to spend a few hours alone when both the girls are at school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I made a point to spend a lot of the time with Kayman on Thursday and really enjoy him without being distracted by housework or whatever.

We had a fun time outside finding bugs

Posing for pictures like his sisters,

And the 5 minutes I take outside without him, he finds daddy's cocoa puffs and helps himself... He thought it was pretty fun to crunch them in his hands and walk on them. What a stinker! I hadn't had this with my girls and thought I had avoided the cereal box dumped on the floor incident, but Kayman wants me to experience ALL the joys of parenthood! :)

Here he is getting into the decorative basket that belongs on the toilet. I walked in and asked him what he was doing and his response was, "Neen up, neen up, evo evo" (Clean up clean up, everybody everywhere) And then he started to put everything back into the basket! What a good boy. How can you get mad at that?!

Please, NO SURGERY!

WARNING: This may be very boring to you readers...long and detailed about my current back trouble.

When I was around 12 years old I found out that I have scoliosis (curvature of the spine). It hasn't caused me a whole lot of problems over the years, although I would get back pain in my SI joints periodically. I have to be in just the right position when doing certain things like lifting and, um, well sneezing. It really is ridiculous, but sneezing in the wrong position has sent my back into spasms many times.

I started going to a Chiropractor in July of this year just to help get a little more motion in my back. It felt pretty good for about 2 weeks, then I had a severe episode of SI joint pain shooting through my lower back. I couldn't bend over to pick up Kayman, carry him around, and getting dressed was very painful. I kept going to the chiropractor in hopes that he could fix the problem, but to no avail.

Then I remembered that I had heard something few months back. I heard that the nutri-sweet in diet soda can contribute to nerve pain and numbness. I had switched to diet 5 months earlier, so I immediately stopped drinking diet soda. Yea, I'm back on the hard stuff. I tried. Anyway, it did help for a few months until 3 weeks ago. I was at the gym doing a step aerobics class and felt my SI joint pop. It didn't hurt, but I knew it was going to give me fits for the next few days, so I took it easy. About 3 days later I sneezed in the wrong position. I had been holding Kayman on my lap and didn't have time to "brace" myself. It really is ridiculous, I know. When I sneezed, I felt shooting pain go through my lower back again, and it wouldn't go away. After a few days my sciatic nerve started bothering me to the point that I couldn't sit down without severe pain. I tried all kinds of stretches, I iced it, and did everything people who have had sciatic pain recommended. Nothing helped in the slightest.

Oct. 1 we left for St. George for Conference weekend, and the ride down there was pretty miserable. I had to lie down the entire time and could not get the pain to subside. The next day I got a deep tissue massage in St. George because I heard that they can really help relieve sciatic nerve pain. It felt good at the time, but then the next morning I woke up (I say woke up, but I don't think I really slept a whole lot because every position was excruciating) and the pain was shooting down to my knee. The day before it was only in my butt.

I got through the day, standing, and finally decided to call my brother-in-law, who is an OB/GYN and deals with patients with sciatica, to see what he recommended. He told me to get to the Dr. as soon as I got home because he was worried about a possible herniated disc in my back, and that can cause drop foot (a condition where the muscles involved in flexing the ankle and toes are weakened). He prescribed some muscle relaxers to help me get through the rest of the trip, and I don't remember a whole after that. I did sleep pretty well, but when I woke up in the morning the pain was all the way down to my foot. I couldn't stand, sit, lie down, or do anything without wanting to die! I took the muscle relaxers and slept ALL day. We left for home that evening and I lied down in the back of my sister's car and tried to sleep. Seriously, nothing more miserable than this pain I was feeling. It was so terrible!

Monday morning I was noticing major weakness in my left leg. I couldn't walk without a limp because my foot just wouldn't respond. I got into my Dr. who ordered an MRI (and some good meds to kill the pain) and I was lucky enough to get it that afternoon. I got into an Orthopedic Dr. on Wednesday. (Thank you Karen for the referral) He read the MRI for me and it turns out that I have a bulging disc in my lower back causing stenosis (when the spinal canal narrows and pinches the spinal nerves). Another disc had a tear and protrusion.

By this time the pain was only bad when sitting, so driving was difficult, and I noticed that my leg was getting pretty numb. When I was shaving my legs (I had to because I hadn't been able to reach them for weeks because I couldn't bend over!) I couldn't feel the razor on the outside of my calf and lower ankle. The Dr. did a few tests and I am showing symptoms of foot drop, which can sometimes be permanent if nerve damage is bad enough. He recommended I go to Physical Therapy for a few weeks and see how things progress, and he doesn't think I will need to have surgery. That is a VERY good thing! I hope the physical therapy helps. I'm only feeling very minor pain now, I can sit and sleep fine, but my foot is getting more and more numb. I have rolled my ankle a few times because that muscle on the outside of my foot is just not working. Simple things like standing on my tippy toes to reach something is impossible. Or chasing down Kayman when he goes running away from me outside, which he thinks is SO funny.

I go to physical therapy Monday, so hopefully there will be some good results from that. I don't want this to be permanent nerve damage. I have noticed in the last 2 days that my left arm feels a little strange and I have a slight tremor in my hand. I don't know if it's related, or just from all the muscle relaxers, but it is concerning.

I have been very blessed by all the help of my family and friends this last week. I thank you all who took the kids for me so I could get to the Dr. appts. I'll keep you updated as things progress!

How's that for a LONG blog entry?! I think it's a record for me. I just wanted to document this for me.

Leaf collecting

We took advantage of the beautiful weather just in time for the snow to come. The night before the big storm blew in last week we drove up to Brighton to get some leaves for the kids. They didn't mind the cold too much and had a blast running around the mountain collecting things. The girls got a lot of leaves, and Kayman got a few sticks and rocks. There were lots of rocks to climb on and they loved that!

On our way back down the mountain we saw this big tractor. The kids couldn't help themselves and started climbing all over it. Kayman found himself a nice seat right in the tire.

Alpine Slide

My mother in law invited Andy, me and the girls to come to her work party with them up at the Alpine Slide. We got the whole day with unlimited access to the slide, coaster and zip line. We had such a great time!

Syd rode down the slide with Papa, and you can see Nana just a little behind them on the other slide.
Jess got to ride with her daddy and loved it! She was so happy that she "beat" me down the slide. Nevermind the fact that I went behind them...I'm sure I beat their time! :)
Waiting patiently for their turn on the chair lift, which they loved!
Thanks Nana and Papa for such a great time! We love you!

What an artist!

Kayman had his first experience with a marker tonight! He found one on the floor that Syd missed when she cleaned up her art stuff, and thought he'd give it a try! He drew all over his legs, feet, Syd's shoes and the kitchen floor. How lucky we are that they are washable markers and easily cleaned surfaces! Kayman was so proud of himself. He loved it! The sad thing is that Andy and I were sitting right there helping Syd with her homework. I should have noticed how quiet it was and that something bad must be happening.

Kayman has really started to liven up lately. He loves doing silly things to make us laugh at him. When I pointed to his leg and told him no about the markers he just laughed this mischievous laugh with a smirk on his face. It's a good thing he is so stinking cute!

Sisters

Last weekend my sister Jaycie did a triathalon and I took the kids to see her finish! She did great! Here we are just a few minutes after she finished. The girls were so excited to see her run through the finish line, it was really cute. (For the record...no, I am not pregnant, and yes I will be starting P90X again Oct. 1st. Don't mind the belly.)

My sister is such an amazing person. I really look up to her and strive to become what she is. She is such a loving and caring person and does so much good for others. She loves the Gospel and lives it in everything she does. She radiates happiness and it's rare to find her in a bad mood. I just love her! She has some amazing physical talents as well. Her musical abilities have helped and inspired so many people, especially those she works with as a music therapist. My family and I love listening to her play the guitar and piano and sing the songs she writes. My favorite Christmas song is one she wrote and recorded called "Mary's King." She is a caring sister, a loving wife, a thoughtful daughter, a FUN aunt, and will be a wonderful mother some day. Love you sis!

Crossing the finish line.

We surprised Jaycie and this is when she first spotted us!

Jaycie, her husband Nick and my kids.

Transitions

We finally did it. Kayman is officially in a "big boy bed" and he is loving it! The first few days were rough and he wasn't too sure what to think, but he loves the freedom now that he is used to it.

We were having trouble putting him down for naps and at bedtime for a few days, he would cry and cry and say "downstairs" as I was leaving the room. I felt so bad leaving him when he was so upset. I thought he might be hating that he was caged up in the crib, so that is why I made the change. Syd was 15 months when we switched her and she loved it. Jess was almost 2 and did fine. For Kayman, it took a few days to get used to.

Here he is taking his first nap in his new bed. So precious! I was actually surprised he fell asleep in the bed. I thought I would find him on the floor in the entrance to his room. He's getting so big!

Crazy Boy!

Kayman is officially crazy. This is his idea of fun. I was worried he would break his neck, so this didn't last long, but I just had to get video of it. He thought of this all on his own. Syd came into my room laughing and said, "Mom, you've got to come and see what Kayman is doing!" Here is what I found:

Summer extension

One of the only things I like about summer ending is the excuse to go to St. George to extend it a little. It had been too many months since we had been there, so since Syd was off track we took advantage of the time we had to spend a while in the George. We had a great time together with just our family. It was so great to be together with no responsibilities other than to just HAVE FUN!

As you can see, the kids were very happy to be together. The held hands in the car a lot of the time. When Kayman's hands were not occupied they found themselves full of sisters' hair, so luckily he was willing to keep them occupied this way.

Andy had to go home after a few days...someone has to work, right?! My parents came down the day after Andy left and spent some time with me and the kids. We took their boat out to the lake and had an unexpected experience on the way home. One of the tires on the boat trailer blew out. I did what I could to help my dad fix it. I'm sure glad it happened when my dad was there, and not when we borrowed it last week! We don't have a hydraulic jack that made it so easy to fix. He had to wedge a rock under it to get the trailer high enough to even get the jack underneath it.

We spend a lot of time at the pool at my parents' house. They are so nice to let us use their place, and we loved swimming where we could have the pool to ourselves without having to worry about keeping track of everyone in a crowd. The girls got very comfortable swimming in the deep end, and Syd even learned how to tread water. By the end of the first day their fingers were bleeding from holding on to the edge and climbing in and out of the pool so much.

Here is Jess posing by the hot tub.

Syd loved to jump from the edge of the pool onto this floaty.

Mr. Stud was pretty cool with his glasses on...as long as he was floating on something. He didn't much like being in the water.

Princess Syd soaking up the sun. Check out that view!

We took a trip up to Dixie Rock, a favorite place of ours. Andy and I used to go there with friends when we were dating in college. It's so beautiful! The kids loved hiking around on the rocks. It seems that none of the kids inherited Andy's fear of heights.

We are so fortunate to be able to go to St. George and have such fun times there as often as we do. It is one of our favorite places to be. Of course we always have to drive by our old apartment and show the girls where we used to live. They think it is pretty cool.

It seems like a lifetime ago that we were living there. It's amazing how much has changed and how fast the years go by. While I was there this week I ran into a lady that used to go tanning nearly every day when I worked at a tanning salon down there during college. She thought that maybe it was 3 or 4 years ago. I had to think about it for a minute before I realized it has been 9 years! I have changed a lot since then, and my life has changed a lot. I am so grateful for my loving husband and 3 beautiful children. My family is so wonderful and I am pleased with where I find myself after so much time.

Boating

Summer is coming to an end, and the fall is coming quickly. We decided to take advantage of the still warm weather and go boating while we still can. We went up to Jordanelle with some friends and had a great time!

The water was pretty cold, so I wasn't too excited when Jess requested my company on tube, but I decided I better go with her. We brought Kayman along with us and had a blast! I thought the kids would just cry when the cold water splashed in their faces, but they were having so much fun! I'm glad I made the sacrifice and subjected myself to a little discomfort. I know, mother of the year.

Kayman and Annabelle just enjoying the ride.

Andy catching some air on the wakeboard.

The girls took turns on flag duty. They did very well! They always claim the bow of the boat...the best place to ride!

Preschooler!

Jessica has been just dying to go to preschool. On the first day of school for Syd last year Jess cried the whole time Syd was gone. She really wanted to go with her. Now, after watching her big sister go for 2 years, Jessica's turn finally came around!

Jess was SO excited to wear her new shirt and show off her new haircut to Mrs. Teresa and her new friends. She knows 4 of the kids in her class already from church, so that helped her feel more comfortable. She had a hard time sleeping the night before because she was getting a little anxious, but in the morning she was just ready to go!

Mrs. Teresa is a wonderful teacher. She works very well with all the kids and helps them feel comfortable from the very beginning. Here she is with Jessica, who is still a little nervous. She was the first one there so I got to stay with her for a minute so she could transition.

Jess came home from school with a great big smile on her face and all kinds of stories about what they did the first day. She even got a piece of cake! She loves preschool!

That's not chap stick!

I spent the morning cleaning out the car, a much needed chore that has been neglected far too long. Kayman was playing in the car while I was vacuuming it out and he found what he thought was chap stick. When I turned off the vacuum and saw what he was playing with, I realized it was my lipstick! Doesn't he look pretty?! He was so proud of himself!

New do

Jess told me yesterday that she wanted to get her hair cut short again, so I jumped at the chance. For a long time, she wanted her hair "as long as Rapunzel's" but it wasn't growing fast enough for her. She has very fine hair and it doesn't look too great long because she doesn't like to have it fixed. So when she said she wanted it cut I was so excited! We got it cut in an A-line and she loves it. She is starting preschool next week, so she is very excited to have a change before her big day.

$2 Tuesday

Thanksgiving Point had $2 Tuesday in August, so the last Tuesday of the month I decided to take advantage of the great deal. I think it's normally $10 to get in.

The girls were SO excited to finally go see the dinosaurs again. They have been asking to go for a while, and I planned to go sometime when the weather gets colder, but I couldn't pass up the good deal. They were thrilled. Kayman was pretty excited to see the huge dinosaurs also. He loved it!

Syd is very intently digging for dinosaur bones. This was her favorite part of the trip..until she got in trouble for getting a little too into it. She stood up a little and started brushing sand away so fast that the kids behind her were getting pelted in the face with sand. She had no idea, and it was so loud in there that I had to yell her name to get her attention. She was so embarrassed when she realized what she was doing. She didn't mean to. The girl has such a sweet heart.

Kayman's favorite part was the huge shark mouth. Here he is trying to climb into the exhibit. So sneaky.

Jess was in a picture-taking mood. Even if it is in front of the shark's open mouth.

Here are my kids and their friends who joined us on our adventure.

Kayman and his friend checking out the dinosaur bones.

Syd was very helpful in making sure Kayman could see everything. He loved every minute of it!

A dream come true

Draper City put on a play last night that the girls were thrilled to go to. I usually don't let them wear their dress-ups outside the house, but this was a special night. They got to wear their princess dresses and slippers to the play Beauty and the Beast! Kayman even enjoyed it quite a bit! Mostly when the beast was on stage and his favorite scene was when the beast was fighting off the wolves. Kayman was laughing out loud. Such a boy.

After the play we went out to meet the beautiful princess. Syd was so excited to get her picture taken with Belle. For Jess it was enough just to be so close to her. She was too shy to get her picture taken.

As we were walking away from Belle to leave, Syd got panicked and said, "Mom, I want to go see the Prince too!" How silly of me. Of course she wants to see the prince, she is starting to notice boys now. She is always telling me about the boys in her Kindergarten class and how cute Jayden is. So we went to see the prince and she was so happy when he picked her up and said he wanted to get a picture with her. I caught him mid-sentance, so it's not the greatest picture, but Syd couldn't have been happier!

How 'bout them apples?!

I love the summer. I have always loved being outside, swimming, the smell of sun screen and chlorine soaked swim suits, freshly cut grass and lavender, water parks, lemonade stands, slurpee runs, boating. Because of my love for summer, I have never looked forward to autumn because it meant that summer was coming to a close and winter was just around the corner. I don't like much about winter.

Over the years, I have learned to love autumn because of a few traditions we have started in our family. One of the traditions has started a bit earlier this year. It feels like autumn already, and the apples on my apple tree were just about ready, so I made my traditional apple pie. Maybe I'm biased, but I have to say that this is the best apple pie you can find! So Yummy!!!

I got the recipe for this delicious pie at an Enrichment night early in our marriage and have been baking it ever since. This is one of my favorite things about fall. I like it best right out of the oven, still bubbling, with some vanilla ice cream on the side. If you haven't tried it, you are really missing out, and we'll have to have you over for a taste! Bon appetit!

That's just nasty!

I am not a big fan of spiders or bugs. As you know, we have had a grasshopper infestation this summer so I am already avoiding my yard...and it shows. Then Andy found this in the garage!

I am sure glad we haven't spent too much time hanging around out front lately, Kayman is usually in and out of the garage playing with whatever he can find. He probably would have found this Black Widow and tried to pick it up. These things give me the creeps.

Movie Night

One of our favorite things to do on a Sunday evening is have a movie night. The girls choose a movie, usually a Barbie movie of some kind. I don't recommend you have too many Barbie movies in your home, they are not easy on the ears. Most of them have terrible singing in them and the animation is awful, but for some reason my girls can't get enough of them. Jess chose Barbie's Diamond Castle, so Andy and I didn't spend a whole lot of time watching the movie, but the kids loved it. I think Kayman even enjoyed watching the pretty girls. Either that of he knew where he had to be to get most of the popcorn.

Jess requested pink popcorn, which is strawberry flavored and very delicious, and they each got some sprite. What a treat!

A Day Out

As one of the final Saturdays of summer, we decided to spend the morning as a family outside in the beautiful mountains that surround us. We went up Provo Canyon to Bridal Veil Falls. It was so beautiful. It was just a short walk from the parking lot down to the base of the falls. We are so lucky to have so much beauty around us.

Jess spotted them first!
Kayman didn't love the cold water on his feet, but he tolerated it for a little bit.
Kayman and me.
These girls had so much fun climbing on the rocks and playing in the COLD water! They were nice enough to pose for a picture for me.
Syd walked Dallas on the way back. She's giving an impromptu peace sign. Not sure where she learned that! :)
Man and his dad.