I hate being sick!!!!!

I can't stand colds. #1 they are just annoying. #2 they last forever. I hope this one will break soon. I'm going nuts! I did make it through church barely. Body aches are my problem. Do body aches comes from colds? Maybe it's not exactly a cold. Cheeto brought us home from church but then left to go study. His test is today. Everyone say a prayer!!! I was so out of it. I had to drive to mom and dad's for dinner but I was pretty useless once I got there. I never really did get a nap after being up since 4am. I do have to be thankful for a child that is old enough to really help with the little things. Cade has resumed the title of Sunday Night Coupon Clipper. He does a great job. He cut them, organized them, and filed them. He really can do the whole thing. The only thing I have to do is go through and put dots on the coupons that I want him to cut. It was great. Last night sucked. Analise now has what I have. She was up quite a bit through the night. She ended up getting in bed with Kelson. This is her new favorite place to sleep. Kelson then woke up saying Analise is sleeping to much. He meant that she was too noisy. I just pleaded with him to go get in her bed so I didn't have to wake her up. I'm blessed that Kelson is such a good listener most of the time! We shall see how the day goes.


Funny Kid Quote of the Day
Kelson: Last night I'm lying on the couch doing absolutely nothing. Not evening knitting- I was sick! That's how you know... if I can't knit. :) Anywho... Cade yells mom come look what Kelson is doing. I got up, not running though, to go check it out. Kelson had taken a push pin from the wall where the calendar in their room was hanging on. I had just bought 2 cases of water and sat them in their room. He had pushed the pin through one of the bottles causing it to squirt out of the side. He then proceeded to suck on it so it wouldn't make the carpet wet. He wanted to tell his dad about it before he went to bed so we called him. Kelson was talking so fast that I had to explain it to Cheeto. Cheeto asked Kelson why he just didn't take the lid off the bottle. Kelson said, "That wouldn't have been as funny!" That's true... it really wouldn't have been as funny.

Some pictures I forgot...

This was at Mom's bday dinner. Well, her 2nd bday dinner at Mexico. Earlier that day, Tia and I were at my house just letting the kids play and watch movies. We got her to start calling her Tia. Analise loves to tease Tia Lettie by not saying it. Well, we went to dinner and Analise called Tia by her name. Lettie was "acting" bugged. She of course was pretending to be upset with Analise for saying it to Tia but not to her. So Analise gave in. She called Tia Lettie Tia!!!!! Hurray!!! Lettie was a bit excited!!!

This is Tia and Trae we are always talking about. They had just flown in from Disneyworld and decided to stay a day to play with us. Our kids love when they come to town.
Analise loves Trae. Always giving him loves.

Cade and G'ma at dinner. We got a good smile out of Cade.

Analise loves her chips and cheese dip!

I had mentioned earlier that Analise wasn't feeling well as we were getting ready to leave for the temple. This is 'sick' blanket. It's big and soft and fairly easy to clean. She gets it to lay on when she doesn't feel well. She brought it out and fell asleep on it. Kelson was so concern that she didn't feel well so he drew her a picture of him holding her. It was her get well card. She was move and it would fall on the floor and he would rush back to put it on top of her so she would see it when she woke up. Mom came to get them to go to the airport to pickup Papa. Analise heard the door and was up in a flash. She was excited to see her Papa!

6 is TOO MANY!!!!

Testing to see if our van holds 6 car seats. Yep it does!

I have to give my friends Leesa and Keri some credit. I accepted to babysit some of our friend's kids so they could go to the temple. I was happy to do it. It got crazy at the end when 4 out of the 6 were screaming at me. However, because it was "temporary" I was ok. We already had plans to go the park for a picnic Friday night. Cathy said she didn't care that we still went and took her kids as well. Thankfully our van seats 8. It really looked like it was going to rain, so we left the house in a rush to get some park play in before dinner. It never did rain. I was blessed to have 5 more adults there. Mom, Dad, Lettie, Kris, and Cheeto also went. Cheeto had to leave to get some more studying done. I wanted to let them run as much energy out at the park as they could. Towards the end Joe, he's 5, and Cade both started complaining they had to go to the bathroom. The bathroom closest to us were locked. So here were my options. #1- try to run them down a hill and then up a hill to a bathroom in the far off distance. #2 Load them in the van and drive up the street to the bathroom. #3- Just let them be boys. The rest of the adults agreed the 3rd would probably be the best solution not resulting in wet pants. I found a big tree pretty much hiding anything. We so often tell them to point it down so it doesn't spray all over the toilet. In this case... it was hard to get them to point it out. Cade stood too close to the tree and peed all over my foot. GROSS!!!!! We learned the hard way. Where was Cheeto when I needed him?!?!?!?! We came home and just watched movies. It was then that their 2 little girls got fussy. They really wanted their mommy. Analise was getting a little protective so she joined in on the crying. Cheeto came home and dealt with our kids while I handled the others. There was an hour there that I was struggling. But it's an hour! Cathy and Matt were able to go to the temple. It was worth it. I realize so many other couples aren't as blessed as we are to have family and friends so willing to help for such things. I am more than willing to pay it back and help others.
Saturday it started pouring early morning. Cade's soccer game had already been canceled due to not enough players. They said they were still going to try to play Kelson's game at 1pm. I had started to feel sick. Just the sore throat, stuffy head and head ache; I wasn't about to go sit in the rain and 40 degree weather for an hour. So we opted to run our few errands. When we got back I wanted to start sewing the Easter dress I was suppose to have made for Analise last week. It turned out so cute. It's just a bit too cold for it today. We will have to wait until next week for her to wear it. We fixed dinner, watched a movie, and went to bed. I watched August Rush after the kids went to bed. It's a cute movie. I enjoyed the music in it. I would recommend it. As the movie went on, I felt like I was going down hill fast. I really thought all day that it was just allergies. However, I think it's a bad cold something. I will push through my primary lesson and rest the rest of the day. Cheeto will be studying so the kids and I can just watch movies all afternoon. I was up at 4am because of coughing and such, so I'm positive that nap/quiet time will be inforced today!


Funny Kid Quote of the Day
Cade had started quoting things. #1 "What's the hurry Murray?" He said it was from a movie he liked. #2- "My bad!?" Instead of saying sorry this is what he says. It's funny to hear him speak slang. Funny Kid.

Analise: I caught her trying to go to the bathroom herself. Thankfully I caught her just in time. She was standing up- "like da boys!" she said. She did drip a bit on the carpet, but I yelled, "STOP!" Scared her pretty good to actually stop. Having brothers is hazardous at times. What the teach their sister!!!?!?!?!

So I have been MIA..... what's it to ya?

Wow! So where to begin... About 10 days ago my sister-in-law tells me I need to read this series of books (Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer). I told her the only time I get to do such a thing is while I'm doing something like the treadmill, biking, or eliptical at the gym. I said I would try them. Two of these books were in the 500 pages and the 3rd was in the 600 pages. If you would have told me then that I would actually read a 500 page book, I would have laughed in your face. I have never enjoyed reading like my mom and older sister, Erin. The always have a book in progress. I can't even say I I always read the required reading in school . That is just sad! I am proud to say I finished the first book in less than 3 days. I did have to stop to take care of husband and children. I gave myself one day of rest and started the 2nd. This is the reason I have been MIA for the past 4 days. I started the 2nd book, New Moon, Monday evening. Tuesday I had errands to run and such, but still found myself picking up this book every second I could. Wednesday morning, I found myself getting up at 6am to keep reading. I was welcoming Analise waking me up so early this morning. My stomach had been bothering the past few days so I had decided that I needed a day of "taking it easy." It took all of less than a second to talk myself into reading all day. About 10am, I got a text from our cousin Tia saying she was going to leave at noon. CRAP! Was it really 10am. I only have 10 pages left of the 2nd book. I finished and then decided to shower. I had to look like I did "something" that morning. :) We went to say good-bye and then came home for lunch. I did pause at moments to take care of my kids. I didn't ignore them completely during my reading frenzy! I just wanted all to know that. My house on the other hand flew out the window. I have a day of cleaning to get it back into shape. Well, Wednesday afternoon I started the 3rd one, Eclipse. I read 300+ pages of that one before I went to bed that night. Cheeto came home from work and Analise told him, "Mommy read all day!" She told on me! I was curious to see what Cheeto's reaction was going to be at my "productive" day. He shocked me! He lovingly said, "Honey, I'm so proud to see you reading "a" book." Little did he know it was 3 BIG books. Can my Cheeto be an "Edward?" YES!!!! I think he is! Of course, he isn't cold and has hard as stone.... but he does love me unconditionally and will do everything in his power to make me happy! I know that for certain. If he can come home to such a mess and say that...He LOVES me! You have to know Cheeto do understand me. He needs a neat organized life. So the fact that was pleased to see I was reading all day instead of keeping up the house.... this was love!!!! Cheeto and I went to the temple last night. I had to keep reading and I get so car sick. I fought the waves of nausea but kept reading. As long as I focused I was ok. I read all the way there. My eyes were exhausted last night. I know now why. I had read this entire time mostly without wearing my glasses. I do need my glasses to read. I woke up this morning disgusted that I had to run errands first thing. The last 30 pages were going to have to wait. I was so anxious to see what would happen. I finished it and now am sad that I have to wait until August to find out what will happen to Bella? I won't start in on that, just in case some of you have decided to read them. I do recommend them. Just make room for a few days on the calendar to do so. You won't be able to put them down. Kelson was so excited to see that I was finished. He was tired of mommy reading so much. I am now back to mommy routine. I best go get lunch for them.

IDAHO SNOW!!!!

I tell all my southern friends what winter was like in Idaho, what real snow looks like! Well, friends.... here ya go. My mom said this is what the snow looked like. Some of it had even melted. I remember snow being higher than this when I was in high school. And yet still, school is never canceled! Crazy isn't it! They still have a lot of snow right now!

Mom's remodeling complete

This is mostly for Nola and Lettie. We have been talking about my mom remodeling her house for the last 3 months. My mom finally sent pictures. So her you go Nola.... I can't believe my Dad and brother did all of this. I have some skilled family! I wonder when they will come to NC!

Why did Monday get a bad rep?

It wasn't the usual Monday. Cheeto didn't have a great day... but it has been one his better "Monday's" in months. Cade is out of school this week so Kelson was happy as can be to have his buddy home to play with. Analise was a grump! The Terrible Two's have arrived and are in full force! The kids and I went to the gym around 8:30am. Later than usual for me. Oh well, this week is suppose to be like vacation right. Not! Mom had invited to take us to see Horton Hears a Who. I wanted to give Lil' Miss Thang a nap before going. She took a really early nap (10am). She slept a good 90 minutes. We ate lunch, wave to Cheeto on our way out the door and headed for the 1:15 movie. On our way we were talking to Lettie and said it would sure be nice if she could come. Ask and ye shall recieve? She asked for a long lunch and they told her to go for it. So she met us at the movies. It was fun. It's a cute movie! The boys loved it. Analise did fine up until the last 10 minutes. That was do-able considering that was her first time to the movies as a toddler. Other kids her age didn't do so well. I was please with all of their behavior. Analise fell asleep on the way home- nap #2. It was a good thing because I came home with an awful stomach ache- ya know the kind that gives you cold sweats and such. After about an hour and a half I was feeling a bit better. I had to do some grocery shopping so I ventured it. I only got half way done before I decided to call it quits. I wasn't feeling well at all. Stomach, mystery pains- I needed to get home. I'll finish the rest today. We had family home evening. I had made a Jell-o cake for dessert Sunday but it didn't get eaten. So Cade used it for his refreshment. He wasn't sure he would like it so I had him take a TINY bite. He said he really didn't like it so I offered him a cookie and dished the cake for Kelson. As I was putting the cake back in the fridge Cade gave me the sad puppy dog face. And with his eyes- he can do this very well! I asked him what was wrong. He wouldn't say anything. He was almost acting embarrassed. I asked him, "Did you really like the cake?" He nodded yes. "Would you like me dish you a piece?" He nodded yes. He had made such a fuss about not liking it but really did he didn't want to change his mind. Funny kid! Cheeto wanted to try studying at home. I went to read my book. I ended up falling asleep on the couch about 9pm. Next thing I know it's almost 1am. I couldn't imagine that Cheeto was still studying. I went back to the bedroom only to find the lights out and him out! I took Analise to the bathroom, brushed my teeth and such and went to get in bed myself. Cheeto woke up enough to talk a bit to me. After that it took both of us quite awhile to get back to sleep. I found out this morning that Cheeto never did come back to bed. He fell back asleep at 6am this morning. Poor guy! It's going to be a rough day for him. I did notice that I didn't stay very warm last night. Now I know why.... my heater wasn't sleeping with me!

Easter Weekend

Friday didn't get the weekend off to a good start. Most of the day went well. We had finally got everything organized and planned to get to the temple. Haley had agreed to watch the kids at her place in Cary. Marcos called at 3pm and said he would be home earlier than he thought. He asked if Mom could watch the kids for an hour or two, then he and Haley would be there to watch them the rest of the night. The only problem was that no one could get a hold of mom. She was napping and taking a shower. It was getting close to leaving time and we were still debating what to do. Well, it all worked out with the change of plans. We were finally on the road. I don't know what made me check, but we were at first light out of town and I went to check I had our recommends. The first thing I saw was 2006 printed on them. They are only good for 2 years. They had expired 3 weeks ago. I was so upset. I just lost it! This was just topping on the cake, after the week I had had. Cheeto thought I was mad it him. Of course, I wasn't. I just needed some more emotionally crying! Mom said she would keep the kids through dinner so Cheeto and I went to run a few errands. It turned out to be an ok night. Not what I had hoped for... but alright! How frustrating!
Saturday was awesome! We had a good time. The kids were up early as usual. They were eager to help me do whatever. Cade was in such good spirits. I put the good behavior to good use. I had them all helping me clean the house. We had it all done before 8:30am. I packed the kids up and headed to my pump class at the gym. Cheeto went to spend the morning studying at his office. We ate lunch and had a good long quiet time. I sat and read Twilight while the boys were very quiet and read books on their beds. There was no soccer due to Spring Break and Easter, so we declared an "Arellano Fun Day." This was our first one. Every family member picks one thing they would like to do. Cade chose to play baseball at a park around the corner. Kelson wanted to play "Sorry." Analise just wanted to swing. I chose to decorate Easter eggs. Cheeto didn't really make up his mind. We ran out anyway. It was a blast! We got some good bonding time in with the kids. At 5:00pm we went out to eat for Mom's birthday at J. Butler's. We had some good laughs. This always happens when you get Cheeto and Marcos together. It's even more funny when Adam joins in. We had mom almost in tears at times. We came home to decorate eggs. The kids did a great job. Cade has found that he loves boiled eggs. He was trying to hard to resist eating one. He was thrilled when we made deviled eggs today for Easter dinner. He was concerned he wasn't going to get his share of them. After decorating, I just had to finish Twilight. I only had about 50 pages left. That is a great book! I never thought I would 500 pages so fast. If you looked at my house friday night you would see that I have been slacking on my house wife duties. I read a lot this week. I bet this week will be a lot the same. I start New Moon in the morning.

Sunday started off to an ok start. Well, the walk to the kitchen was good, after that Analise started screaming and pitching fits about EVERYTHING!!!!! I got them all fed. Cade and I then started making Mom's birthday cake; only to find out that she wanted strawberry shortcake and bought it and made it herself! ARGH!!!! What a waste of an hour!!!! Oh well- Cheeto is tickled pink (probably not pink- but that is how the saying goes...) he has an entire cake to himself! I then finished preparing for my primary lesson. I took the entire morning to get the little things done. Cade woke up a bit bummed that the Easter bunny didn't visit. We had a little talk about what Easter is all about. He came around and decided it wasn't worth crying over the Easter bunny. I told him that Daddy and I got them all a couple of surprises. We had them close their eyes and hold out their hands. I placed new ties around their necks and an egg with new watches inside. We expected a cheer for the watches but as a mere thanks dad! Oh well! We finished getting ready only to have Analise in an uproar! She DID NOT want to wear the dress that Papa A brought from Mexico. She fought and screamed as I put it on her. She made her body limp so I couldn't carry her anywhere. Gotta love when kids pull that! She cried for the next 20 minutes. She looks great in our family pictures. We got to church and I realized I left without getting the bag that had the rest of my lesson in it. Cheeto was so kind and went to get it for me. He said he was more than willing to do it! OH- did I mention that Cheeto prepared the wrong lesson for today. I mentioned this to him about 30 minutes before it was time to leave. It all worked out. His class combined with another and he didn't even have to teach. We got our interviews done so we are ready for the stake presidency one on Tuesday night. The rest of the day went pretty smooth. We had our Sunday night Pop Pop Party and watched AFV. The kids were exhausted. It was only about 10 minutes and they were all out. PHEW!!!! We made it through another weekend. I pray now that the week ahead will go better!

Funny Kid Quote of the Day
Analise: She pulled on my shirt to get my attention; plugged her nose and said, "Mommy, I make the bafroom stinky!" She had to make yuckies and was telling me she was going to make the bathroom stink.

Cade: This is what Cade placed on their bedroom door!

Mama told me there would be days like this!

Good Friday is hopefully better than stinky Thursday! I don't think I have had so many rotten things happen in one day! I went to my therapy appointment first. It went ok. Lindsay found that my iliac soas muscle was as tight as a rope. She said that muscle is what moves your back and legs. It attaches from your lower back and down the bottom of the hip. When you sit or lie down that muscle relaxes. She worked it out a bit causing some pain the rest of the day. She gave me some stretches and such to do to help keep it from knotting up again. As soon as I got home, I was going to run to Joann's to get some patterns, that I thought were on sale for $.99. I had picked out some really cute ones and some fabric to finish Analise's Easter dress. When I went to check out the patterns were ringing up for $11 and $15. WHAT THE????? I was so ticked I had driven all the way over there and they weren't on sale. I tried to just let it go. I went to meet the church playgroup at the park. Kelson and Analise were so excited. However, the wind was so bitter cold and Kelson refused to wear a jacket, so we weren't able to stay too long. Analise was in the swing and resisting getting out with all her might. After I finally won, she still screamed across the playground. A lady walking her dog, a big colley, walked around the corner of the bathroom buildings, Analise was over the swing thing pretty fast. She did not want me to put her down after she saw that dog. She was pointing to the car and saying, "Go bye-bye!" I wanted to run to Wal-Mart to check for patterns. I had told Kelson when we left the house there was going to be only one errand, so when I said we were going to go to Wal-Mart he had a cow. He said, "Mom, you promised one errand! I just don't that this is right to do 2." I told him tough and get over it. Well, I didn't say it exactly like that. I try not to be like that kind of mother! After finding the pattern and talking with myself, I just couldn't spend $7 more on this dress. For $5 more I could just buy another already made dress. I left Wal-Mart without purchasing one thing. How often does that happen? I was so upset about the realization of not making Analise's dress. Those of you that know me, you know I love to make my kids things. I was excited to make this dress! Now she has to be like every other little girl and have a boughten dress. Why does this bother me so much? Why can't a boughten dress be just as good in my mind? This just set the mood for the rest of the day. I came home for lunch and quiet time before I had to go get Cade for dentist appointments. Cheeto's stomach wasn't feeling well so he was home for an hour or so. He stayed with sleeping Analise, while Kelson and I went to pick up Cade. I pinched Kelson's finger in the seatbelt so he was mad at me. We were also able to pick up kindergarton registration papers for him. He was so excited. I can't believe I'm sending Kelson to school in the fall. WOW!! Time does fly! Anywho...We came home. Cheeto went back to work. We packed up and headed to the dentist. This is the first time I have had to take all 3 kids to one of my dentist appointments. Kelson had the idea of boys will stay together and the girls will stay together. So Kelson sat and watched Cade get his teeth cleaned, while Analise sat on my lap and watched me. They did pretty good! I wish our cleaning report went as well. I told you before that Cheeto came home with 14 tiny cavities. Let's just add to that number, Cade had one tiny surface one. She said she wouldn't even have to numb him to fix it. And then me.... I use to crunch ice constantly when I was younger. In doing so, I had to have a lot of fillings on my back teeth. These fillings have broken down in spots due to lack of calcium. My body drains calcium like crazy, especially while I'm pregnant. Well, I have 10 that have to fixed. What the? I'm so ticked! This was not an expense that I like to pay. Why is dental work so dang expensive? ARGH!!!! We have no other choice unless we want our teeth to fall out. I obviously don't have as good as dental insurance as I do medical! After the dentist we came home to get dinner. I had enrichment so Cheeto was just coming home as I was leaving to give him more working time. I thought since he wasn't eating with the kids I would fix them their Kraft Mac & Cheese. Cade was excited. He said he didn't like the Spiderman noodles and wouldn't eat. That just added to my day. I had to fight him 40 minutes to eat Mac & Cheese of all things! I was relieved to go to enrichment last night. I needed to get away, even if it were just for a couple of hours. Being spiritually uplifted help me take things in a different perspective. I have a lot of work in that department. I need to remember the Lord doesn't give us trials that we are unable to handle. Of course they aren't going to be easy to solve or survive, but we always get through them. I came to kiss Cheeto good-bye. He went back to the office to study some more. I fought to get the boys asleep. I decided to read some more Twilight. Many have been convincing enough for me to keep reading. I fell asleep doing so. Cheeto must have taken me to bed because the last thing I remember was him turning the TV on for us to watch LOST. I don't even remember watching the first minute of it.

I don't want to SSSHHHHH.....

Yesterday was a pretty good day. #1 r eason- I had no where to be. The van didn't move an inch. I love days like this! #2 reason- I had no pains until almost 6pm. Seriously days that I have like this are great. I was so tired and unproductive though. I really should have taken advantage of running errands or cleaning while I felt ok. I did make dinner. That has been a first in weeks. I usually have do something frozen that takes 15 minutes or less. I did watch my friend, Andrea's little girl, Aubrey. Kelson and Analise love it when Aubrey comes to play. Analise had a rough day yesterday. I think she was tired from going to bed almost 2 hours later than usual the night before. She screamed and whined about everything. Aubrey I guess was as tired of it as I was. She finally turned around and told her to SSSHHH! Analise came running to me, stomped her foot and screamed, "Aubrey tol me SSSHHHH! I NO SSSHHH!" She was so upset about this that she didn't want to play with her for quite awhile. Analise was definitely not herself yesterday! Cheeto came home for lunch a bit bummed for some reason. I have yet to know why. It's ok, sometimes it's for my own good. But knowing he was upset and having such a bad day, kinda turned the rest of my afternoon the same way. I can't fix everything! Obviously! Cade had a field trip to the Natural Science Center. Grandma went with him this time. It's good for him to have share them with other family. I think they both enjoyed each other. Mom's report was she was glad she wasn't a 2nd grade teacher. Just having a few kids ignoring the teacher was enough to drive her nuts. There is always somebody. I'll have to get pictures from her later to post. Cade came home in a good mood and we started dinner.



Analise really wanted to help! When I turned around, Analise had gotten her play apron, play pot, and complete with plastic play food. She was standing on her stool and had it all on the stove, stirring it. She was ready! I told her we were going to cook real food. I guess it's really been that long since I have cooked. I believe I'm a bit rusty too! Dinner was simply OK. Not great by a long mile! Kids were in good spirits the rest of the night; running wild through the house. This is when Cheeto and I look at each other and really wish our house were bigger, perhaps with a basement and door to send the kids. Cheeto got Analise to bed. I read the boys stories. Cheeto left to go back to work. I sent the boys to bed. And finally.... the house was quiet! The first time in hours! I usually get work done on the computer this time of day. However, tonight I decided to read "Twilight" by Stephanie Meyers. I'm sure a lot of you reading this have already read the book and completely surprised that I'm so late in jumping on the bandwagon. My dear sister-in-law said it's must! I have been reading it while on the bikes at the gym. But I have to read it slower while doing that at the same time. I got quite a ways into it last night- to the part it starts talking about the "cold ones." I began to wonder if this was going to be a scary book. I don't do scary or freaky. I had to call my mom to find out. It was after 10pm. She was shocked I was still awake. She said it's not what you think and to keep reading. I agreed I would read more today.
The rest of us have dentist appointments today. I have therapy this morning. And thankfully because of spring break all soccer practices have been canceled this week. YIPPEE!!!! I do need to get on making Analise's easter dress and many other sewing birthday gifts for family. I pray that today I feel as good or the same as yesterday.


Funny Kid Quote of the Day
Kelson: Last night after I had sent him to bed, he came to visit me on the couch. I noticed he was dressed in his day clothes. I asked him why he took his pj's off. This was his reply, "I'm tired of Cade beating me dressed in the morning. Tomorrow morning, I'll already be dressed so I will beat him." Such a tricky child! He was proud this morning when Cade was getting dressed and Kelson popped out of bed saying, "TADA! I beat you!"

My teef are good!

I felt so crappy yesterday I didn't do much of anything past noon. Mom, bless her heart, came over to get us through dinner. The kids were tickled pink when they heard G'ma was coming to make us egg sandwiches. I have to admit, her egg sandwiches are the best!
Today was as crazy as the come. Cheeto had a meeting at 8am. I had therapy at 8:15am. Kelson had a dentist appointment at 10am. I had two shops to do this afternoon and then we were going to try a new restaurant that is around the corner from us. It was crazy! At therapy this morning, Lindsey was just more puzzled that the past few days were worse not better. She did some deep heat ultrasound therapy. She also noticed that I have signs of scoliosis. Great! Let's add something else to all my ailments. She gave me this machine-like thing called a TENS Unit. It stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation. She said that chronic pain or acute pain can be treated many ways. Since, drugs and surgery has done nothing, she wanted to try the nerve stimulation. Basically it sends electrical pulses through the skin to the cutaneous (surface) and afferent (deep) nerves to help control pain. This is what the book says how it works: There are 2 major theories as to how electrical stimulation relieves pain. According to the "gate control theory," pain and non-pain impulses are sent to the brain from the nervous system. These pulses travel through the cutaneous nerves to the deeper afferent nerves and then to the spinal cord and brain. Along the path are many areas referred to as "gates." These gates control which impulses are allowed to continue to the brain. The gates prevent the brain from receiving too much information too quickly. Since the same nerve cannot carry a pain impulse simultaneously, the stronger, non-pain impulse from the TENS devise "controls the gate." According to the 2nd theory, TENS stimulation encourages the body to produce natural pain killers called endorphins. These chemicals interact with receptors, blocking the perception of pain. This is similar to the way the pharmaceutical drug morphine works, but without the side effects associated with morphine. No matter which theory is applied, TENS has been proven useful in pain management. I think at this point we are trying anything. If I can find a way to at least control the pain, that would be great. It's just another triad and error device, hopefully getting us one step closer to resolving the problem. Today was rough. I even had a pancreatic attack this afternoon. I haven't had one of those in almost 9 months. Why now? I have no idea. Thankfully it only lasted about an hour. After that... I would take my mystery pain over that any day!
Kelson was a champ at the dentist. Not sure if you remember what happened last time. Well, you can go back and read what happened. (Read the Rat Race.) Well, Kelson gagged only once and just asked for a drink. He did great. I was so proud. Analise sat and watched from my lap the entire time. Kelson was given a cavity free checkup. He was glad. He told the hygienist, "That is good because my daddy has 14 of them!" (Cheeto went last week and did in fact have 14 little cavities in between his teeth. It's going to take him 3-4 visits to get them all taken care of. WOW! is all I have to say!) At the end of the visit, when Kelson was getting his new toothbrush and such, Analise saw a princess toothbrush that caught her eye. It was a bigger brush but the hygienist talked her into getting a little one with an elephant. She has since called it her "Horton" brush. The kids have been seeing the previews for the movie and are very excited to go see it. G'ma said she wanted to take them to see the movie sometime next week while Cade is out for spring break. We got back around 11:00am. The kid were screaming that they were starving so I fed them an hour early, which meant that quiet time came early too. HIPPEE! I took some pain killers and chose to lie down myself. The doctors told me to take darvocet instead of all the ibuprofen, said it will be easier on my stomach and liver. I don't feel like it works as well, but it works enough. We went shopping and then to dinner at Beef O' Brady's. It's a family sports pub. It was a lot like HAMS but with less noise. It was good food. Tuesdays kids eat free. I think we will be going there more often. The owner is also a big Steelers fan. Cheeto met him tonight. I think Cheeto will be watching some football over there this fall. Cade and Kelson loved looking for the Steelers and Panthers stuff on the walls. There were plasma televisions about 3 feet apart down each wall and down the center of the room. It would be impossible not see one. It's nice that it's right around the corner. It's in the same shopping center as Mexico #6.
I think that has brought us up to date. I am now sitting here with only one child. Kristi wanted to "borrow" Analise for a achievement girls activity. She wanted to have Analise to help the girls learn some babysitting skills. Kelson wanted to go so badly that Kristi said sure. Kristi took them and van. Cade and I have been here for the past couple of hours alone. It has been so quiet. I think Cade enjoyed being the only child home. He read me stories and we just chatted. That was nice! He is now in bed and I'm just waiting for my babies to come home. It's not like I'm nervous, but I'm still edgy until they are home safe in theirs beds. All mom's out there know the feeling. Well, until another day!

Funny Kid Quote of the Day
Analise: While she was picking out her tooth brush she was telling the hygienist, "my teef good! No see my teef!" She was so nervous that this lady was going to do to her what she had done to Kelson. She wanted the toothbrush and that was it. No strings attached! Silly girl- both Kelson and I had to giggle at her!

Sharing time went well. I'm grateful for the calling I have as the CTR 7 teacher. I have forgotten how much work goes into sharing times. I did it for almost 4 1/2 years. I don't get stressed in presenting it, but the stress and work that goes into the prep work was more than I thought I had time for this past week. The only thing that was complete awful was that I felt awful. I had taken 4 ibuprofens before church hoping that would help, unfortunately it didn't. I said and prayer and got through it. I had many compliments. Either people were just being nice or it was really just that bad that they felt sorry for me. :) After church we went to have dinner at mom's. I fell asleep on the couch and Cheeto watched the golf tournament. I woke up just to see Tiger make his winning put. The tournament was played at Bayhill in Orlando, Florida. We went and drove around this golf course and neighborhood while we were visiting over Christmas. It was fun to try to recognize stuff. We did see th spire and Moroni on the temple as the camera followed the balls over the tree. It made me want to go back. We need to definately start saving to go again. I absolutely loved that trip! On the way home, Analise was fighting her sleepiness. We got her stay awake again my saying popcorn party. As soon as she walked in the door she b-lined it to the microwave with popcorn in hand. We watched some "funny videos" that we had recorded last week for the kids. We didn't noticed that the original air date was in 1992. It was hilarious to see the style of clothing, the big cheek glasses, and art deco decor. The kids didn't seem to care but Cheeto and I got a few laughs just at that alone. We sent Analise to bed and Cade helped me clip coupons. He's been named my official coupon clipper. He did such a great job. He cut almost all of them out, separated them into categories and then filed them in my folder. It would be great if he would do that for me every Sunday. WOW- how they grow up! Where does the time go?


Funny Kid Quote of the Day
Kelson: While we were eating dinner, Kelson said something about a "knuckle" sandwich. Cheeto had asked where he had heard about knuckle sandwiches. Perhaps the gym? One of the daycare workers was talking to her own child and said something about knuckle sandwiches. Kelson said he did in fact hear about it elsewhere. He then proceeded to tell us how you make a knuckle sandwich. Here are the ingredients he said, "You take one slice of bread, get some coins and then another slice of bread." It then dawned on me he thought we were saying "nickel" sandwich not knuckle sandwich. Cheeto didn't quite catch on to what he was saying so Tia Lettie spelled it out for him. Then this morning I asked him what how you make one again. He was mad at Cade and said, "I'm not going to make a nickel sandwich for Cade. He's not being very nice!"

OK- it's been a few days

Thursday was a cleaning day. After feeling nasty all day Wednesday, I couldn't get myself out of bed to go to the gym. Cheeto got up with Cade and I slept in an extra hour. That was nice! I decided to use my pain free hours wisely. So instead of going to the gym, I cleaned the house and did yard work. It smelled like something had been dying in the fridge, so the first thing on my list was to clean out the fridge. Analise and Kelson got real excited to help with this. Kelson kept telling Analise, "Be careful with this, this bottle is breakaful." It was funny, everything after that was breaka"ful" to Kelson. Aaron Hilton came over right after lunch to help me clean out flower beds. We have an agreement- I teach him and his sister piano lessons and in return they help us with babysitting and yard work. It works out pretty nice. Aaron has been feeling bad because I haven't actually used his service since September. But there just isn't much yard work through the winter. Now that it is warming up I'll be asking for his help much more. I'll get him to help me with the stuff that Cheeto just doesn't have time to be bothered about. Aaron was a huge help! What a few years does for a child! It will be nice when Cade is old enough to do what Aaron did. I had the yard mowed before Aaron got there, so we got to work on the beds when he arrived. We were all done before Cade got off the bus. Cade was excited about the popcicle party we were having on the porch. My kids love nothing more than popcicle parties! Cade had soccer practice at 4:30pm. I didn't feel like running any errands so the two little ones and I sat in the van and just waited. It was our turn for car pool this week so we had Jake with us. When it was over, I went to start the van and Millie wouldn't start. I guess we listen to the radio too long. It wasn't on the entire time but long enough. I use to listen to the radio an hour while I waited to pick up Cade from Jones Elementary. I didn't even think about her not starting. I asked a couple other moms and no one had any jumper cables. Thankfully, Coach Marvin helped us out. He drive a Honda Odyssey as well. He parked his car so we were nose to nose. Cade then said, "Hey look, Millie is kissing Coach Marvin's van." Kelson laughed and said, yes- then we can have little Millie's. Weird children! Cheeto had dinner waiting for us again. I just love that man! He then went to study and I had a knitting class, which has pretty much turned into social hours with friends. We do usually knit though!
Friday my goal was to get to Costco. Cheeto offered to do that one for me on his lunch break. I still had some errands to run. Kelson asked me today why do mom's have so many errands! He hates them! I asked Mom if she wanted to go with us and she did. It was a good thing, she ended up chauffering me around. That was nice. I wasn't feeling well enough to drive but had to get some stuff done. My favorite pair of jeans that broke while shopping last weekend had been sent to get fixed but as I was taking them off the hanger they broke again. I wanted to take them back immediately to have them fixed again. I also wanted to get to The Children's Place to get Easter ties for the boys. That is, in my opinion, the best place for church clothes. I got lucky and found my favorite flip-flops for Analise. They have elastic straps on the back to help her keep them on. I bought some from Old Navy last year and they just aren't the same. We were trying to get to the temple friday night as well and they were full when I called. I was on the waiting list and said they would call if anyone had canceled. Our sessions was for 6pm and they called at 4pm. There was no way we were going to make it. Bummer! We did get some quality time with the kids though. At the last minute we had a bowling match. They got a bowling set for Christmas. We set them up in the hall and we all took turns. It was bunch of fun. Cheeto was goofing off and through the ball down the hall and it ended up hitting Kelson. He kept saying, "OOOOOO.... OOOOOOOO." I asked him what the problem was and he said, "Dad's ball hit me." Ya know, where it hurts lil' boys. That was funny! It obviously didn't hurt too bad. He was laughing too! Cheeto and I watched "Dan in Real Life." I thought it was a cute movie. Cheeto said it was too much like a 'chick-flick" for him. He is so hard to please when it comes to movies. I just like Steve Carrell. I do recommend it.

This morning was a mad dash. I woke up and thought both the boys games were at 1ish. I gathered up kids and went to my body pump class at the gym. On the way home, Jake's mom called and asked if I would bring snack today. I said sure and then she said, we'll see you in an hour. WHAT! was she serious. Yep Cade's game was at 11:20am. It was 10:20 when I got home. I got home to find Cheeto still asleep. I think we set an Arellano record. We both showered and got snacks and were still early to the game. That was madness! Kelson's game was at 1:15pm. Cheeto went and got us McDonalds for lunch. We had our first McDonald's happy meal free. Kelson was upset for maybe 30 seconds. I told them if they ever got to eat at McDonald's again it would be without happy meals. We had some time to kill before Kelson's game. The kids and Cheeto were playing soccer on the little fields. Cheeto and I had watched "Victory" last weekend and I had asked him if he could do these soccer tricks. He said he could. He showed me one today. I have to admit that brings Cheeto to a whole other level of hotness in my book. It was cool to see him to that. He just laughs at me and you may all too, but I never knew Cheeto when he played soccer. I would have most definately would have been chasing him in high school. That just makes him more hot! Anywho....Kelson scored 2 goals today at his game. He was so excited. I think they are his first ones. I just got done throwing garbage bags full of junk toys away. I'm not about to start filling my house again with them. When we got home, Cheeto went to work to study and I finished up a few things around the house. I made him his favorite, an apple pie all for himself. I told Kelson it was daddy's so I made the kids cookies. I actually didn't make them, I just use boughten bake yourself cookies. The kids loved them and I didn't have to make a mess in the kitchen. We both won! After all the help Cheeto has done this week, he deserved an apple pie all for himself. I purposely made it smaller than usual. I could and would eat an entire pie if I would let him. So by making it smaller, he doesn't eat as much. hee hee! :)

Funny Kid Quote of the Day
There are too many to quote just one! I can't remember them all enough to relate them to be funny again. More next time! However, did I mention we have a new family pet. Analise! She keeps pretending she is a dog. Drives us nuts! I have always said, as bad as it sounds, kids are like dogs. The drool, make messes, poop, pee and require you to take them outside, need to be fed, they wake you up in the morning, they sometimes stink. The list can go on. However, kids don't shed and their food doesn't stink. I prefer kids over pets anyday though! Kids are just cuter!

This is Crap!

The past two days have been crappy. Yesterday was just a bummer day. Not much to report other than just feeling crappy! (can you tell crappy is my theme? I really am trying to stay positive. I could say much worse. ;) I do think it sometimes! anywho...) I did have a good workout. My butt and legs are good and sore today. I have another one tomorrow morning, I'll go heavy on upper body then so Friday my arms will be useless. Man, I love that sore feeling. That just means my time spent at the gym wasn't a waste. OH- another "crappy" thing happened. It was 3:15pm and Cade still hadn't come home yet. I called the school and they said that his bus driver had a sub and the sub didn't show up at the school on time, I later found out from the Guilford County Transportation Dept that the sub had gone to the wrong school. Cade didn't get home until almost 4:20pm, almost 1 1/2 hours later than usual. He usually gets home before 3pm. I called to see if I could just go pick him up and they told me there wasn't time, he needed to ride the bus home if at all possible. I was so mad. Cade was a bit bugged. He said they made them stand outside this entire time. ARGH! Schools! They drive me nuts sometimes! We did go eat beans and tortillas with G'ma Arellano later. That was nice to get the kids out of the house and not have to fix dinner. We love bean night at G'ma's.

This is Kelson and Analise patiently waiting for Cade to get off the bus!

This is what Kelson drew on our driveway. He said this was me in my nightgown. I don't even own a nightgown. I'm not sure why he drew it. He was just so proud of it and asked if I would put it on "bag o cheetos." He doesn't know what blogs are but he loves to look at them. He will be tinkled to see that I actually posted his art work.

This morning had a therapy appointment a 8am. Cheeto was able to help with this kids. That was nice not having to have everyone out the door before 7:30am. I don't think I'll get that lucky every time. I have heard great things about this therapist. Her name is Lindsay and works at CAWH Rehab Center in Greensboro and specializes specifically in women's health . She and only one other therapist work at this office and it's complete one-on-one. It seemed like when I went to Greensboro Orthopaedics they would work with me and get me going on something and leave and work with someone else and come back to me. Lindsay wasn't like this. For the first little bit we just talked about my past medical history, when the pains all started, so on and so on. She said she had a "hunch" it could be I had a pelvic rotation of some sort and wanted to look into that some more. She had me stand, then lie on a table, bend my knees, the list goes on. After about 20 minutes of this, Yep sure enough her hunch was right. My right hip has a posterior rotation. She said this often happens when you have vaginal deliveries. She said some women experience this just because of hormones. She said such an injury to occur in a man would take a bad car wreck, sports collision or something like that, but for women just hormones cause your pelvis tissues and soften and fall out of place; simply lifting groceries or doing laundry could cause this. She pulled, pushed and stretched my right side of everything quite a bit. After she did some heat/electric something or other therapy. She said it would deaden the nerve fibers so it will quit sending the bad pain message to my brain. I'm trying to stay positive thinking all of this will help. We are very blessed that our insurance is going to cover all of this at 100%- not even a co-pay. All last summer I bad mouthed our insurance. I take back every bad thing I said about them, because we really do have great insurance. Lindsay said I should feel like a new woman today. Wrong- I felt awful. I took my 2 doses of 800mg of ibuprofen and I still felt crappy. She did say it may take awhile to correct itself. The back/hip problem I have been having may also be related to this. Everyone cross your fingers and say a prayer that she might be a miracle woman and make me better. This is beyond ridiculous!
At 11:30am we met Tia Alicia y Tio Jose, Mom, and Lettie at Waffle House for lunch- even though we ate breakfast there. We came home for quiet time and soon it was time for Cade to get off the bus. We were asking Analise at lunch where certain people were, like where was daddy? she answered, work. We asked her where Cade was, she replied, "on the bus". I think she thinks that Cade stays on a bus for 8 hours a day. It was so nice this afternoon (my car said it was 74 degrees) that we had to go outside to play reguardless of the way I felt. I fought through it. The kids were having a good time until they all got mad at their bikes. Both Cade and Kelson said the same thing at different times- they weren't even around each other when they said it. They both said, "my bike hates me. It keeps making me fall down. I don't want this bike. Why did you get me a bike that hates me?" Weird kids. Like it really is the bike's fault. We have such dramatic children.
Kelson soccer practice came next. He did do much better from last week. Cade got a taste of what it feels like to sit on the sidelines and wait for practice. He didn't like it so much. He now knows what the rest of us do for him each week. Cheeto had dinner waiting for us when we got home. I worked on finishing up some hands, read to the kids, said prayers and now have them all in bed by 7:30pm. It's finally quiet! I love this time of day! Days that I hurt so bad just wears me out. I'm struggling to stay up to see Cheeto. I don't think I'll make it tonight. We shall see!


Funny Kid Quote of the Day
Cade: As Cade was getting mad at his bike he started yelling, "MOM! This bike makes me crap!" I just started laughing. I'm sure the neighbors could hear what he was yelling. I then had to correct him and said, "No, honey. This bike is a piece of crap. It doesn't make you crap." Cheeto or I must say "piece of crap." I'm sure it's me, the kids aren't around Cheeto enough to pick up things he says. Cade also after dinner burped. He said he just did it because I do it. Cheeto gave me the funnest look. I do burp- sometimes! Sometimes being the key word. Oh- the only things our kids hear from us. Why can't they listen to the good things we try to teach them!?!?!?!?

All in a Monday

The day started out like it ended- on the couch thinking how exhausted I feel. Cheeto even came home early from studying because he was so tired. This time change thing is for the dogs! After I got Cade on the bus, I had a fight with myself about whether I wanted to go to the gym or not. My eyes said no but the rest of me said yes. I figured my eyes were such a small body part and didn't need the workout that majority rules. Tuesday and Thursday are my Body Pump mornings so I took it easy today and just ran 3 miles (for my own reference 29:38 minutes) and did a little leg weights. It took me forever to get out the door this morning so I was running behind. I had to go grocery shopping today as well. It was almost 11:30 when I left and about 12:30pm when I got home. It was another week of grocery savings. This week I spent $29 and saved $32. Cheeto tells me as long as I save more than I spend I can keep doing what I'm doing. Like just saving money isn't enough! He's totally kidding FYI! Anywho, Cheeto gave us a treat by coming home for lunch. He went back to work and the rest of us took naps. YUMMY! I love naps! Cade got home and we all went outside to play. It was such a nice afternoon. Cade wanted to play real life math baseball like the game on his Leapster. I would give him a math question, he would then have 5 seconds to give me the answer, if he got it right then I would pitch him the ball. It was kind of fun. Kelson even wanted to play. We taught him how to add by one. He was feeling pretty smart. Analise was just content to swing. She sat on the swing for an entire hour. It was after 4pm by now. Cade breezed through his homework without any whining. I love it when that happens. We made a quick dinner, had grandma over and started FHE. I was thinking while we were outside earlier that we should some outside activity. I was feeling crappy and wasn't up for a bike ride or anything. So I threw something together which turned out to be one of the funnest FHE's we have ever done. Everyone was participating and happy. I took the Book of Mormon story book and made a copy so I could cut out the pictures. I first told this kids the story and told them to really look at the pictures and remember the order of the story. I had cut the pictures out and placed each one in it's own envelope. I tied yarn from our porch the Cade's tree in the front of our house. I paper clipped the envelopes to the string. The wind made the envelopes dance- this made the kids a bit hyper. On the front of each envelope it had something you had to do in order to get the envelope; ie, go down the slide, run around the house, draw in sidewalk chalk your eternal family, do 10 jumping jacks, catch a baseball, shoot the basketball, sing a song- you get the idea. The kids had a blast and as you can see Cheeto and G'ma got in on the fun. Analise had the treat. We made some cookies. Sad thing was was that she didn't eat any of her dinner so she couldn't get one of her own cookies. She was one upset little girl when she went to bed. Kids are now sleeping and my husband is home before 10pm. I'm a happy camper. I best go enjoy his presence.

Funny Kid Quote of the Day
Cade: The kids fought me to go to bed. Cade kept saying, "Mom, it's still light outside. You're teasing me about it being 7:30pm. It looks more like 6:47pm." Funny Kid!

Analise: She has been doing a great job with the bathroom thing. She still wets the bed sometimes, but she is in regular big girl pants and doesn't really have many accidents. Well, before we went the grocery store this morning she said she had "poopies" so I took her before we went. It took her a couple of visits to actually go. Mid-way, she looks at me with a face that made me laugh. I asked her what was wrong. She replied, "OOOOO- dat tinky poopies! Howey- fush it Mommy! It was hilarious! I wish Cheeto could have heard her. This is why I'm a stay at home mom. I couldn't bare to miss this moments! Again, I'm blessed with a awesome husband!

Kelson: Kelson was having problems with his shoe right before we went outside for FHE. He was kind of fighting with himself. Cheeto asked him what was wrong and he said his shoe just wasn't right, it had problems. He was so weird... hitting his shoe and jumping on and off the chair. Eventually he just forgot about it and life went on.

Check out Kelson doing Jumping Jacks with Grandma A.

Man, I'm tired this morning. I do not love the "spring ahead" day light savings thing. I'm definitely going to have to take a nap today. This weekend was great! It didn't have a happy beginning. Cheeto had his last church basketball game Friday night. It was U-G-L-Y!! No one on his team could make a basket unless they were on the free throw line. One guy was about to throw-up in the parking lot right before the game. They lost by 30 points or something. For a team that went undefeated all season, it was sad to see just a blow out on their final game. However because they lost, that meant I could go shopping with Teresa a whole hour sooner. Hippee! It had rained all day Friday and most of Saturday morning causing Bryan Park to cancel all Saturday soccer games. I had an impression appointment at 11am. Cheeto wanted to get everyone out of the house at this time to make the appointment less stressful on me. He took them to "Gold's Kids" at our gym. It's basically a PE class. The boys did a have a great time. They were quite excited when they got home and had some stories to tell me. Cade and Kelson were in two different age groups. When Cheeto walked Kelson back to the day care room and then took Cade for his turn, Analise flipped out. She wouldn't stay in the room without screaming. That made it so Cheeto had to sit with her. Cheeto said he only got to run about 25 minutes because of all the running around. Perhaps Gold's Kids needs to be a 2 parents ordeal next time.
After lunch, we all had quiet time. By 3pm, we were headed to Target for a quick look for a few things. Cheeto and the kids were going to go eat with the rest of the family at Mexico #1. I figured I was out playing, they shouldn't be denied any fun. I picked Teresa up and we were on our way for over 5 hours of children free laughs, shopping, deal breaking, good time! We loved every minute of it. I love Teresa! She is awesome. We found some good stuff. First stop was Rue 21, where I found a cute black and white skirt. My favorite part was that I had to get a size 1/2. That was a confidence builder! My mission from then on was to find a cute red shirt to wear with it. When we got back out to the car, Teresa hands me something and says, "What is this? I found it between the door and seat over here." I squealed! It was my bluetooth. I have been looking for it for more than a week. Cheeto's has worn out so I told him he could have mine for awhile (this is usually how it goes with most electronics!). However, I couldn't find it. Teresa made us both so happy for finding it. It must have fell out of my purse or pocket on date night. Anywho, we ate dinner at Harper's in Friendly Center. We had a crappy waitress but the salads were still good. We ordered salads so we could eat ice cream at Coldstone's with "less" guilt later. Cheeto and the boys gave me a gift card to Claire's Boutique for my birthday, so we went there to get use that. I really wanted just some from earrings. I crouched down to look at some earring hung close to the floor. As I did so, I heard this POP! (ok- it wasn't that extreme!) I knew what had happened. The snap on my new "Seven" pants broke! This is the second time it has done this. I was so mad. I told Teresa and we just laughed. Thankfully it was really cold and windy so I had worn a longer coat. After finishing at Claire's, we walked through Macy's to safety pin my pants back together. I got 6 pairs of earrings for $27 dollars. They had a Buy 2 Get 1 Free sale. It was a good time to shop for earrings. We proceeded to a couple of stores that weren't all that great. I found a $9 ribbed melon-colored sweater at New York and Company. Our biggest success story was at Belk. We found some serious sale racks and got some really good clothes for cheap. I spent $40 and saved $212. I got a oatmeal colored cable knit sweater- originally $58 - on sale for $9. A purple, flirty wrap around shirt; originally $40- on sale for $6. A red wrap sweater; originally $58- on sale for $9. Last but not least, a green corderoy Jones of New York jacket- originally $100- on sale for $16. I was so excited to tell Cheeto how much I got for next to nothing. I got a lot of good stuff for only spent a part of my birthday money! Teresa and I decided we need to always ask for money and then go shopping together to blow it! After they kicked us out of Belk because it was time to close, we went to Cold Stones, after we just went home. Cheeto said he was surprised we were home so early. Teresa was thinking she couldn't remember the last time she had been out without kids AND Munsey for more than 5 hours. It was a great evening! Thanks Cheeto! I did have to stop at Harris Teeter to get ice cream for Sunday dinner. The only thing Cheeto asked me to do all day was to get him some "treats" while I was there. You know what I forgot? Yep- his cookies! I came home and baked some for him out of the bucket of dough we bought at Costco. I'm such a tard. I was talking to my mom and just went in to buy ice cream. I shouldn't talk and shop at the same time!
Sunday morning was hard to get out of bed with time change. I had some preparing to finish for my lesson. I played too much Saturday to do it sooner. It was a rush to get us all ready for church on time. After church we had our monthly traditional "Idaho" dinner, where Kristi and Christopher announced they are expecting in October. Congratulations! It's about time! Just kidding. Analise is going to have some compitition with Bobby and Carolyn now. :) Analise thinks Bobby and Carolyn are a 3rd set of Grandparents. We came home , watched a movie and had a popcorn party! Analise was out like a light on the way home from Becky's. Cheeto layed her down on the couch and she was gone! But as soon as I asked her if she wanted "pop-pop" she perked right up. Funny Girl! After watching "Eight Below" with the kids, Cheeto and I stayed up to watch "Victory" with Sylvester Stalone and Michael Caine. It was pretty good. I struggle to keep my eyes open towards the end of the movie.
As far as my pain this weekend. Saturday wasn't good, but Sunday was do-able. I'm going for infared deep heat therapy in a few days. I hope that helps! It was a nice to kinda have a day off.







Funny Kid Quote of the Day
I should have written them down this weekend. I can't remember them right now. I waited too long. Live and learn!

March MADNESS!!!

Yesterday was Cade's field Trip to the ACC Women's Basketball tournament. I was sure the paper Cade brought home said they were leaving the school around 9:30am. I had thrown the paper away and was pretty sure it was 9:30 but decided to go a bit early just to make sure and perhaps catch another parent to carpool with. We had to pay for parking and there was no reason why 5 parents should pay $7 each to park. As I walked up to the school it looked like a few buses were already loaded and ready to leave. I got a teacher and asked her if Mrs. Baldwin's class had left yet. She said part of them had and the rest of them were with her class on this bus. I then asked about the parents and she told me all of the parents were already out at the coliseum waiting on them. I couldn't believe. I showed up 30 minutes before I thought I had to be there and everyone had already left. I caught up with another parent from Cade's class in the hall. She said our class was still in their classroom. I guess it was the other Mrs. Baldwin's class that the other teacher was talking about. I didn't even think of clarifying which Mrs. Baldwin I was talking about. I did carpool out with another parent. (a little side note: this mom had a Toyota Sienna. I'm even more convinced that our decision to buy the Honda Odyssey was the best choice. I LOVE MY HONDA!!!!!) As we pulled into the parking log there was a sea of yellow buses. Picture it: thousands of kids packed in the coliseum. My "mystery pain" was throbbing and I was beginning to wonder how I was going to make it through the next 3 hours. Fortunately, Mrs. Baldwin put 4 well-behaved children in my group. I only had to take them to the bathroom once. The rest of the time they sat, ate their lunches and giggled through the entire game. As soon as we sat down some other teachers came around and gave all the children sweatbands for the heads. Our class had red ones. That made Cade happy, since he had been telling everyone that his favorite ACC team was NC State. Big shocker! I wonder who taught him that one? I don't think any of the kids knew which teams they would be watching play. We watched University of Miami and Georgia Tech. Cade decided very early he was going to cheer for Ga Tech because they were from Atlanta and Tio Marcos lives in Atlanta. I wasn't 100% sure that they were from Atlanta but Cade had promised that his Dad had told him they were. At this point, Mrs. Baldwin leaned over and said, "I'm sure none of these children will actually watch the game." I was sure Cade would. And he did. He did say more than once that he had wished it was men's basketball. Cade did sit there in his seat and watched the entire game without a whine or complaint. The other boy in my group was constantly asking when the game would be over. Cade sure is growing up in this aspect. He not only loves to play sports but has just as much fun watching them. Cheeto is consistantly teaching Cade about rules and sportsmanship. What's shocking to me is how much Cade absorbs what Cheeto is telling him and knows as much about football as he does. Mrs. Baldwin told me yesterday that Cade is always giving her a play-by-play from past football games. I had so much fun on this field trip with Cade. It was an enjoyable, yet exhausting, day. I'm glad we were able to go. It was 3 hours full of high pitched screaming. They had a Chik-fil-a blimpe that would go around the arena. It was funny to see thousands of kids staring at this blimp even though the game was still going on. Cade had to take a picture of it to show Kelson. We got home about 2pm. I checked Cade out of school early and came home.
Kelson and Analise had spent the morning with Grandma. They went to eat lunch with Tia Lettie. Analise was mad that Grandma had tried to lay her down for a nap and decided to be ugly. Mom said it seemed like she purposely pooped her pants just to get even with Grandma. I Analise still hadn't taken a nap when I got home but I decided it wasn't too late for one. I was exhausted and needed a power nap so I put everyone into quiet time. Analise eventually gave it up. Kelson and Cade both had soccer practice at the same time. Thankfully Cade was carpooling with another parent this week. Kelson was a ornery butt at his practice. He was screaming and crying about everything, and I mean everything! Anything from the scab on his arm to his little toe hurting. I had had it by the time I got home. Exhausted, exhausted! Cheeto kept laughing at me as I struggled to keep my eyes open during LOST. Can I just say we love that show!?!?

Funny Kid Quote of the Day
Cade: At dinner last night I was telling Cheeto about our eventful day. I was telling him that Cade had been such a good boy. Cade chimes in with a question, "I was?" We both looked at him and asked, "Weren't you?" "Well, I think so." It's like he acted shocked that he was a good boy all day!

What a day!

I had told Lettie that I would go sit at her house this morning to wait for the Dish Network guy to come install their dish. They told her that it would be installed anytime between 8am-12pm. I felt so bad after the last time she watched the kids and we were a bit later than we had told her that I really owed her this one. As much as the kids enjoy going to Tia's, I thought they would be fine for that long. WOW! I was wrong. After about 2 hours Kelson and Analise were climbing the walls. I mean that somewhat literally. At one point I found they both standing on the back of the couch trying to hang from the window. About 11am, Kris calls and says the dispatcher needs me to call him and give him directions to the house. This road is so new that no GPS will pick it up. The installer guy, Jerry, showed up about 11:40am. The kids were starving. I called Cheeto and he brought them some games and McDonald's Happy Meals. That made their day. They have been requesting "donald's" for weeks. It has seriously been months since wehave taken them. They acted much better once they had food in their little tummies. At about 1:30pm, Jerry brings out the remotes to the receivers. My first thought was, "Man, those remotes look like the old style." I thought to myself, perhaps they're going "throw-back" style like fashion and such is. Then I noticed that their were no DVR buttons on the remotes. I asked Jerry if he installed DVR receivers. He said, "No. Mrs. Hopkins ordered the basic 300 model." I told him that that didn't sound like something she would do. None of us watch live television- why would she do that?!?!?! I called her and she said she did in fact order a DVR. To make a REALLY long story short, it took Jerry some sweet talking and another hour and a half to get it all resolved. I got home seriously 2 minutes before Cade got off the bus at 3pm. It was a crazy, boring morning. However, I do feel better knowing I did even the score with the late babysitting thing. Cade was wretched during his homework. It took him hours of screaming and crying to get it done. After dinner, he was a new kid. All of them were! Angel children... why can't they act like that all of the time.
Our bishop and EQ president came visiting tonight. It's always nice to have more priesthood in our home. As soon as they left, Cheeto did the same. He had to push his testing date back some in order to really feel prepared for it. I was hoping for a celebratory weekend this weekend but looks like I'm going to have wait. I like those weekends after a big test. I can have him for an entire Saturday. Very nice!
I have gotten double the phone calls and emails about the hand business. I hoping the majority of them will follow through. I enjoy getting new business. Who wouldn't? I felt pretty good today. I should though. I spent all morning on a couch. Since it wasn't my house, that's about all I could do. There was no laundry or dishes to clean, no closet or dress to organize, no busy work. It was a good down day. I needed it so I can be rested up for tomorrow. I'm chaparoning Cade's class at the ACC Women's Basketball tournament. That should make for an interesting day. Both boys have soccer tomorrow night as well as my knitting class. Thursday should be chaotic and stressful. I'm preparing myself mentally already!

Funny Kid Quote of the Day
Kelson: When we were at Lettie's, he got pretty hungry. It came up to me with utmost seriousness said, "Mom, it is your job to feed me. Please- make my tummy happy!" Then Analise caught on, "Tummy- Happy- Please." Of course, I didn't make their tummy's happy- daddy did. But they were hungry! I asked for a bite or a french fry and they both told me no, they were going to eat it all. And they did. Yep Analise ate an entire cheeseburger, fries, and chocolate milk. Amazing! They really were that hungry!

YUM- CHICKEN!!!

Sunday was a Sunday. Church, dinner, popcorn party and bed. However, dinner was kind of funny. Mom had bought a marinaded pork loin at Costco the other day. Cheeto nor I are fans of pork. I really like a pork zucchini thing that mom makes but not really any other way. However, we will eat it. As we put the food on the table both boys said, "OH YUM! CHICKEN!" I gave everyone "the look". You know, the looks that says, "don't say a thing or your dead meat!" I led them all, Analise included, that is was chicken just so they would try it. For the next 5 minutes, it seemed like it was a contest to see how many times we could say "chicken." I think Kris was getting a bit bugged by the whole thing. Just as I was getting ready to tell Cade that it wasn't chicken, Lettie says, "I know what we should have for a lesson for FHE tomorrow night... not lying." I then, leaned over and whispered to Cade, "Hey buddy, do you like the chicken." He replied, "Yes." "Guess what honey, it's not really chicken, it's called pork." All he said was oh. He then picked a potato up with his fork and was getting ready to ask Cheeto what it was. Cheeto beat him to it and said, "But really Cade, that is a potato." It was funny! We all got a good laugh. Analise still called it chicken, we couldn't change her mind.
I had a busy day today. It could've gone a lot better. First thing to get done was to mail my business taxes. Right before Cheeto left, I noticed that Analise's bed was broke. I guess the kids had jumped on it so much that one of the support boards had split causing it to sag in the middle. I was glad that a $4 replacement board from Lowes was all it took to fix it. I had told Kelson I had 'some' errands to run. I didn't give him an exact number. I know he has a number limit next time. So our errand list went as follows: bank, Lowes, Post office, Tobacco USA (not what you think!) and Joanns. As we left the post office, Kelson informed me that he was done and not going anywhere else. I was wondering what that meant. I just asked him to get in his car seat and said let's go- you're with me kid! Turns out Tobacco USA and Joann's were pointless. Neither place had what I was looking for. Bummer! We got home, at lunch and got ready for my impression appointment at 1pm. Seems like from then on the rest of the day was a blur. Once cade gets home, my day is done. Homework, dinner, and bedtime routine engulfs the rest of the day. Crazy what one child in school does to our lives.
I'm now sitting here waiting for Cheeto to get home from studying. He got me situated on the couch before he left. I told him I would probably be in the same spot when he returned. The past 4 days have be the worst! I talked to more doctors today. They are thinking more torn muscles or something. I think we are grasping for anything at this point. We are thinking about trying some deep heat therapy just to see how that works out. I walked around with a heating pad and that seems to help. I just pray someone will find something and I can start living a normal life again. This quality of life is starting to wear on everyone it seems. I'm very blessed with an incredible husband that can love me even when I feel useless. I have great kids that help me however they can. I have a lot to be grateful for, even if it doesn't include health!

Funny kid quote of the day
Analise: Yesterday morning while I was blogging I had sat my phone next to me on the couch. I went looking for it and couldn't find it. I asked the boys and Kelson said he had seen Analise with it. We just got new smartphones and the kids know they are not to play with them. I asked Analise and she gave me the "I don't know" shrug. I asked again, "where is my phone, Sas?" About five minutes later she walks into the living room and shows me my phone and says, "Oh, this mommy? This?" She acted like she didn't know what my phone looked like. I said, "YES- that" What did she think i was asking about. Little cutie knows how to make us laugh.