All In a Day's Work

Kelly came to me the other day and told me her ear hurt. I told her to go lie down and tell me if it still hurt after a while (my stock reply to pain complaints).

In a few minutes she came and told me there was a bead in her ear. Never mind how she said it got there, after probing, she admitted she'd put it there herself.

Not wanting to spend 2 1/2 hours in urgent care, I decided to get it out myself. I tried a fingernail file, but the bead was a perfect fit for her ear canal and I didn't want to push it in farther.

I needed something sticky, so I pulled out some gum and started chewing. I stuck the gum on the end of a toothpick and tried to extract the little pink bead from her cute little ear. No luck.

But! The toothpick gave me an idea. I could see the hole in the bead and it was just larger than the end of my toothpick. I was able to poke the toothpick into the bead hole and get some leverage on the thing. Success at last! Who says staying home with kids doesn't take advanced skills?

Amusement Park

Yesterday, we took the kids to a local smallish amusement park. We go every year because the kids get a free pass for reading twenty five books from the library during the summer.

Michael and I just watched. He is too short for everything except the carousel, which was closed, and I am too pregnant. I refrained for drooling on the fences around the rides, but he just couldn't help himself.

Kelly had a blast on her first ever roller coaster ride.

Here is Gwen being buckled into the Ferris wheel with her Dad.

Heather and her big sisters liked the Ferris wheel, too.

Rachel enjoyed getting wet on the log ride.

Summer went on the gravity tower with Rachel. It shoots up and down, while leaving your stomach wherever you were two seconds ago.

Stan and I are happy to be done until next year. :)

Catch Up

A week and a half ago, someone took my purse. I was buckling Michael into his car seat, and they grabbed it off the front seat of the car. I didn't even see them. Anyway, I've been busy canceling credit cards, filing a police report and replacing my license, cell phone, glasses, etcetera, etcetera, instead of blogging. What a pain.

Here is Rachel with the guitar she bought at a yard sale for $25. She figured out how to play "Come, Come Ye Saints" on her own, just fooling around with it.


A few days ago, I let the three youngest play in the backyard in their pjs while I made breakfast. Kelly came in and announced they had been making dirt clouds. I could see something had been going on since the roots of her hair were dark enough to look like she'd had a bad dye job.

It didn't prepare me for Michael, however, who got the majority of the precipitation, as a result of being closest to the ground. Bath time came before anyone was allowed to eat.

I can't remember the occasion, but this was too cute to leave out.

No one gets in trouble around here anymore. Instead of being reprimanded, the kids are told to , "Hold still, so I can get a picture for the blog."

Gwen had a birthday a week ago. She made it easy for me in the cake baking department and asked for donuts. She is seven and more fun than ever to have around.

Michael thought this glue stick was lip gloss. :)

I made cookies and left them for the family and the missionaries to eat for dessert while Heather and I went to Enrichment Mtg. I guess they were a bit rich, because when I came home, Summer and Rachel had each left a sign on opposite sides of the bag of cookies. It was not a problem, though. I took the leftovers to Mutual and the YW polished them off.

Kid's Yard Sale

Saturday, the girls had a yard sale. Prices were reasonable.

We put six signs up around the neighborhood. Items were attractively displayed in the driveway.

I called families in the ward with kids the girls' ages who lived nearby. The event was staffed by professionals intent on making a sale.

But, despite all this, there were only three customers. The girls did make some money off each other, however. In a moment of weakness I agreed to let them each buy three things when the yard sale was over. Five girls times three things I had struggled to get rid of back in the house. It did end the day on a happy note, though. Next time it all goes to DI!

Baby Picture?

I had an ultrasound on Friday (it's too early to tell the sex, if you are wondering) and brought this picture home. You have to use your imagination to see a baby in the original and once it was scanned, it is nigh impossible to see a life form when you look, so, I enhanced it.

Three or Four Inches Off the Back!

Michael needed a haircut. He was working on getting the nickname Michael the Mess or Michael the Mop or maybe Michael the Natural Disaster (sometimes that one still fits).

Here are a couple “Before” pictures.

Here is “During”.

And here he is “After”.

If you look closely at the corner of his mouth, you can see some of the chocolate chip I had to bribe him with to hold still long enough for me to TAKE an after picture. He had enough holding still while he was getting his hair cut.