Trying Tyler

There are days when Tyler can really, really, really try my patience. Sometimes he just wakes up on the wrong side of the bed and stays ornery for the whole day. Other days, it's like someone flips a switch. He can go from happy and mellow to mean and yelling in no time flat. He loves to argue and can't stand to be wrong. (I can already hear my parents telling me this reminds them of someone.) There are very few times when he's asked to do something that he doesn't complain first. He seems to think that he's in charge and can demand and badger me until I give in to him. When he does do something without complaint, it's usually because I've threatened to take something away. Or, I've told him he can't have or do something unless he's nice. There are some days when he can surprise me and be nice for no reason at all. Oh well. I guess it's just one of the joys of having an 8 year old. After having a bad day I can't wait for bedtime. (Tonight will be 8:00. I just need it to be quiet.) Although he can make me crazy, I still love him. All it takes to change my mood is seeing how sweet he is when he's asleep. Or listen to him talk about something he's really excited about. Or, him telling me he loves me and not because he wants something from me. :0)

Avery's going problem (those with a weak constitution shoudn't read)

Avery has been dealing with a constipation problem for the past couple of months. I took her to the doctor when I took Peyton in for his blood draw. He gave me some great tips to try and take care of the problem. Most of them I have already been doing, but I am going to use the rest. Anyway, since she has been having this problem, it's made her afraid to go to the bathroom. She's afraid that it's going to hurt and that's because it does. I've seen her struggle. She will wait and wait to go. Sometimes I have to force her, other times she waits so long she has an accident. The accidents have been happening more frequently. Most of my friends and family know that I've been dealing with accidents from Cameron for the past 3 years, but that's another story entirely.

Yesterday, I had Tyler go to wake her up from her nap. He came back upstairs and told me that she had wet the bed. We were in the middle of getting ready to go to the boys soccer game. So, I wasn't thrilled to be adding another thing to my to do list. I got down there after about 5 minutes because I was trying to do a million different things. I found Avery walking around with a bare butt. She was holding a clean pair of underwear and was acting a little weird. I walked into her room and gagged. I thought I was going to throw up. It smelled terrible. (You would think I would have known what was going on then.) I started searching for the wet clothes. I found the pants and just assumed that she had put the underwear in the laundry. I then tried to put her underwear on. She didn't want to let me. She said, "Wait I have poop on my butt." I said "What do you mean you have poop on your butt?" She said, "I pooped in my underwear and now I need you to wipe my butt." I said, "If you pooped in your underwear, where did you put it?" She said in a very casual, matter of fact way, "I put it in my drawer." There was also a little tone of "duh" in her voice. Like where else would I think that she would put it. I went into her room and started at the top drawer and began working my way down. I hit the jackpot with the third drawer. I opened it up and screamed. I knew what I was looking for, but was still disturbed when I found it. Sitting in the bottom of the drawer was a big, brown log of poop and her wet underwear. (Thank goodness there weren't any clothes in there.) I asked her why in the world she would do this. She replied, "Well, I didn't want it on my butt. So, I just took it off and put it in there to wait until you came and got it out." Again this was said with the "duh" tone to her voice.

Overworked

My washer and dryer are probably the two most used appliances in my house. Next, of course, would be the dishwasher. Jillene published a post about all the laundry she had to do in order to get ready for her vacation. I felt her pain. I very rarely have a day that goes by where I'm not doing laundry. It's constantly happening. Usually 7 days a week. If I miss even 1 day, I feel like I'm 4 days behind. It starts at around 8:00 to 9:00 in the morning and usually doesn't end until at least 10:30, or later at night. Or whenever Ryan tells me I should just stop and go to bed. He's good about helping me, but I like things done the way I want them done. So, enough said. I like to do most of it myself. Except the socks. Oh, how I hate pairing up and folding the socks. I have to admit that most of the time they all sit in one big community sock basket. I usually get sick of digging through it about once a week and finally pair them up, but it's immediately filled back up again with clean ones. I've said before that we were going to become nudists so that I can avoid the hassle of keeping up with the wash. Everyday there's 6 more shirts, pants, underwear, socks, pajamas and towels to wash. There's usually the "odd" unexpected load also. Someone will have had an accident and need all of their bedding washed. Something will spill on a bathroom or kitchen rug and need to be washed. I wish I could have another washer and dryer. That would be heaven. Twenty years ago I never would have thought that I would one day be dreaming about having multiple washers and dryers, but today it's one of my favorite fantasies.

Peyton the Trooper

Peyton has been participating in a drug study program. They are testing a new vaccine for pneumonia. I can't remember all of the facts right now because I don't have them in front of me, but the current vaccine only covers about 7 different strains. The test vaccine will cover around 13 and I believe that there are over 20 total. I agreed to do it because this vaccine combines some that infants already receive and reduced the amount of shots from 5 to 3. I was given a Palm Treo I use to answer questions for 7 days following the vaccine. Things like: Did your child experience any change in eating or sleeping habits? Irritability? What was their highest temperature? etc. I then send the answers in, via the Palm, and the whole thing only takes about 10 minutes. That's just because you have to take their temperature every night.

He's had the vaccine at 2,4 & 6 months. Today, at 7 months, he had to go in to have his blood drawn. They're testing to see how his body's antibodies are dealing with the vaccine, or something like that. It's hard to pay close attention when Avery & Cameron are around. The nurse had me hold his legs and the opposite arm they were drawing from. Another nurse held the arm being drawn from. He didn't mind the actual poking with the needle, but he HATED being held down. He didn't necessarily cry very much. He did yell a whole lot. Unfortunately, he was blessed with my small, thin and "ropey" veins. The nurse poked around for a while and the needle kept slipping out of the vein. I have the same problem. Whenever I have had to have IV's, they have had to use the smallest size catheter and even then it's still difficult.

We had to flip him around and try the other arm. Thankfully, this worked the first time and was over quickly. He cried for about 30 seconds after and then was fine. He does have 2 nice, matching bruises. One on each arm, but other than that he's just fine. He was a brave guy.

I'm sick of being sick, so it's off to Boise Ryan goes

I'm pretty sure that I have strep throat again. This will be the 3rd time in about the past month and a 1/2 that I've had it. I have no idea what's causing it. Tyler got it a few days after I did the first time, but he's been the only one. We caught his right at the very beginning and the antibiotics did their job. No one else has had to deal with it. I thought about making another trip to InstaCare yesterday, but decided to tough it out. I did OK for most of the day, but I'm not sure that my tactics are working very well. I don't really want to go. I've tried 2 antibiotics already and they obviously haven't worked. I'll give it another day or two and see what happens. I did want to start tackling my bedroom today, but if I don't feel well I guess I'll just have to wait. How sad.

Ryan is in the air on his way to Boise right at this moment. He's scheduled to be there through Friday. He always says that he hopes to be home sooner. I hope that he can. I know that he really hates to be away from the family. He feels like he's disappointing the kids in some way when he's not around. He hates missing out on anything that they're doing. He always tells them to call him everyday and tell him how their day went. He's going to Boise because I believe St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center has added a wing, or something like that. He's going to work on that and also to help out the guy who works there. There are some problems that are beyond his capabilities. It's still weird when he's gone. Even after being married for almost 10 years and him traveling periodically all that time, I have trouble sleeping when he's not here. I don't really like messing with my sleeping situation. I have a hard time getting my brain to settle down when he's not around. Hmmm. What does that mean? Am I able to fall asleep because I'm tuning him out when he's around? No. I just feel more comfortable when he's here. I guess that means I love him.

Beyond the Basics

Tyler has again been invited by Granite School District to participate in their Beyond the Basics program. It's a summer school for advanced learners. Admittance is by invitation only. So, it's a really cool thing he was invited. We were going to do this last year, but my terrific brain didn't remind me to register him on time. I use the excuse that I was pregnant, hormonal and even more forgetful. The classes start on July 7 and run through July 18. The tuition is $125.00 and I feel that it will be worth every penny. Anything that helps to ward off boredom has to be a good thing. Tyler has decided that he would like to take a class called Math Quest. He decided because of this description:

Discover the magic of numbers as we travel through Numberland, Sportsland, Fantasyland, and Dinosaurland on a Math Quest in search of treasure. Create and solve problems strategically as you work individually and in cooperative teams. Create charts, graphs, diagrams, tables, and pictures as part of the Math Quest adventure. Will you find the treasure? Come and join the search!

It makes it sound like he's going to Superhero School. He's very excited. So, I'll remind myself now that registration is:

May 15, 2008

Granite School District

2500 South State Street

Salt Lake City, Utah

I'm a big kid now!

I have serious issues when things touch my neck. I CAN'T stand it. I get all flushed and nervous just thinking about it. My brother, Joshua, would torture me mercilessly when we were growing up. He would tickle my neck until I was so panicked I would just fall helplessly to the ground and flop around. He was truly evil. I've never really been able to wear jewelry, or should I say necklaces. I tried one on once thinking that I would be able to handle it because hey I was an adult and I should be able to. I instantly hated it because it felt too tight. I tried taking it off, but I had acrylic nails at the time and it made it a little difficult. I started fumbling and it got worse and worse until I was almost hyperventilating and having a panic attack. A friend finally came to the rescue and took it off for me. I was in such a state at the time that I can't remember now who did it for me, but whoever it was, thank you.

Well, I hosted a Lia Sophia show about three weeks ago. The hostess receives a bonus item for hosting. I decided to see if I had grown enough to try wearing a necklace. You know how I like to challenge myself. I chose one that adjusts from I think 15 up to 19 inches in length. I've always liked the one I chose, but was very afraid of it. I was having weird fever dreams about the silly thing for about the week and a half before I finally got it. Sometimes I would wake up in a panic trying to get it off my neck. When I finally received it, I was hesitant to put it on. I finally did and thought to myself, "I've made a huge mistake." I resisted the urge to rip it off and persevered. I wore it the entire day and amazingly enough, I survived. I was so proud of myself and thought, "Christa is cool!"

So, you have the option to purchase additional bonus items for hosting that you can purchase for a reduced price. I decided to try a necklace again and chose another one that I've always liked. This one is not adjustable and is only 18 inches long. It's just a chain with a toggle and is also quite heavy. Well, I love it and it hasn't killed me yet. I've feel that I've just grown so much. Before you know it, I may be able to handle it when someone touches my legs. More specifically my calves. (Another way that evil Joshua would torture me. He scarred me in so many ways.) Well, maybe that's asking too much and I shouldn't press my luck.

So, are you gonna take me there, or what?

Most everyone knows of the special place I hold in my heart for Mexican food. I craved it non-stop when I was pregant with Peyton. I craved anything spicy, but Del Taco was my food of choice. What can I say? I like fine dining. Plus, I'm all over anything that has a drive thru. I DO NOT like taking my kids into any restaurant when I'm by myself. I would go there at least twice a week while I was pregnant and in doing that I have created a monster. The monster is named Cameron. He asks to go there pretty much everyday. He tries to "reason" with me when I tell him no, by saying that there's just nothing good to eat at home. He won't eat anything at home. I'm a mean mom if I don't take him there. He won't like me anymore if I don't take him there, etc. You might be thinking to yourself that he really loves Mexican food also. Well, you would be wrong in thinking that. He only likes the crinkle cut fries that they serve there. He likes them because the Macho size is truly macho. It's served in a 32 oz. cup. You wouldn't know it to look at him, but he can eat every last one of those fries.

We went there today because we were out running errands and the kids were hungry. Cameron insisted on his favorite place and I didn't feel like arguing. He got his usual and I got Avery a medium fry as well. Avery ate maybe 1/4 of hers and Cameron ate all of his. When I went to throw away Avery's he nearly had a heart attack. "You can't do that! There's still tons of fries left in there. I can eat those." I told him he's just eaten a bunch. He said, "I don't care. I can finish those too." And he did.

Success!

I had a successful return of library books today. So, take that Salt Lake County Library System and Ryan. I am responsible enough to borrow books and return them on time.

Crazy Cameron

Cameron didn't want to go to school this morning. For some reason he thought that there wasn't any school today. When I told him that there was indeed, he stormed back into his room. I was calm and went in and told him that he had to go to. It was his job and anytime he said he didn't want to go, but did, he always had fun. He was still being crazy and said that school was stupid. He never had any fun and when he said that he did, he was lying. I told him he was silly. School was great and I wished I could be in kindergarten. He said, "No way! You're not going to trick me into thinking that school is fun and make me want to go!" I had to leave the room after that so I could laugh where he couldn't see me.

My Breakfast

I stole this breakfast idea from my sister in-law, Heather. I really like it. In fact, I miss it if I don't have it. I've been eating it almost every morning for the past almost 2 months and it is: millet, flax seed, nuts & banana. Millet is a small, round, yellowish grain. If you leave it whole, it cooks up like rice. You cook it with the same proportions of grain to water as you would rice. I took Heather's advice and bought a coffee grinder. So, I sometimes grind it and then it cooks like a porridge. Think "Cream of Wheat" consistency. It also take less time if you prepare it this way. When you leave the grain whole, it does take longer but no longer than cooking rice I suppose. I also lightly grind up the flax seed. I like the crunch when it's not ground into a powder. I love walnuts or pecans on top also. I buy them shelled & whole and then crush them with my fingers when I put them on top. I also like to pour vanilla flavored soy milk into it and for some of you out there saying ewwww, it's not bad. I lived off the stuff for years when I was a vegetarian. I guess I've never really drank it like milk, just on things, but I survived. I like to drizzle honey over this, not very much. I would say about a tablespoon. I will then slice up a banana on top. I also like to have it sometimes with dried cranberries or dried apricots. It's a great high fiber, high protein, slow release of energy breakfast. You can buy the grain and flax seed at Whole Foods Market. I haven't had any luck finding it in other grocery stores. It's only about &1.50 a pound and you find it in the bulk bins. I bought 2 lbs. 2 months ago and I just ran out yesterday. Another good grain I recommend is quinoa. It's a South American grain similar in looks to millet. It also cooks up the same way. Be brave people and try these things.

I also stole Heather's recipe for hummus. I forgot that I used to love the stuff. I eat it almost everyday also. I don't make it from bean flour because I don't have a grain mill. I use canned chickpeas and I like it just as much. I've changed the recipe slightly.

1 can chickpeas, partially drained
1/2 can of chickpeas totally drained
1 tablespoon of cumin
juice of 1 small lemon or half of one large lemon
1/4 cup tahini (this is just ground sesame seed and I use my coffee grinder to do it. I've found the seeds in the Mexican aisle with the spices. One bag is enough for this recipe.)
1-2 cloves of garlic
salt & pepper to taste (I go light on the salt because I use canned chickpeas and they already contain some, but I would say about 1/2 tsp. of pepper.)
olive oil

Grind the sesame seeds. Place everything in a food processor and process away. Once things start to get smooth, I start to pour in the olive oil. I would say I add a 1/4 of a cup at the most. I just pour until it all comes together and gets really smooth. You can use this in place of creamy, more fattening dips. I use it instead of mayonnaise on sandwiches. I really like it with celery and celery is a great slow release, high fiber food.

When I eat like this, I find that I want to snack less during the day. I feel more satisfied. If I have a snack, it's usually an apple and again, it's a slow release, high fiber food.

Forced Labor

I have been nagging my three oldest kids for at least a couple of months to really clean out their rooms. They were atrocious. Tyler and Cameron are pack rats. They hate to throw away anything. It was making me crazy. There were papers everywhere. You couldn't see any of the surfaces in either of their rooms. I would get so agitated every time I would go in there. When they would "clean" them, it was just shoving things from the middle of the room to the side. They would shoves things under their beds, or into boxes or whatever container they could find. Avery just had a lot of toys out, but it wasn't good in her room either.

I came up with an idea that I thought would motivate them. Both boys hate spending their money. So, I told them that for everyday after that that they didn't clean their room, they had to give me a dollar. They both complained mightily and told me I was mean and being unfair. I thought "ah ha" I've found the trick to get this done. I told them this on Saturday and told them that it would start on Monday. On Sunday night I reminded them of the plan that was going into action the next day. Tyler threw a fit and then walked away. He came back a few minutes later and said "Here, you should just take this now." He held out his hand and had a dollar in change. He told me he just didn't want to and probably wouldn't clean his room and I should just take the money now. I'm sure he didn't realize just how fast he would get tapped out if he just kept giving money rather then clean the stupid room. I told them all no way they were cleaning and not only would I take the money for each day that they didn't do it, but after a few days I would just go and do it myself and they wouldn't like what happened when I did. When they asked what that meant, I told them that meant that I would just start throwing things away. Beloved treasures, childhood memories (as Tyler called every single piece of paper), toys, everything.

Today the project began. I had to help each one of them and I knew that would be the case. At least it got done. They all complained quite a lot and I yelled quite a lot to keep them on task. Three and a half hours and 3 garbage bags full (2 from Tyler) later, we were finally done. Hallelujah. They were all amazed at how much more space they seemed to have. They've been threatened with their very lives, or at least the loss of their butts from being paddled off, that if they let it look that bad again mom will not be happy. I think I'm on a spring cleaning rampage. First our laundry room, now the kids rooms. I guess that means my bedroom will have to be next. Oh, no. (Sorry about the doofy way pictures have been posted as of late. I'm still trying to figure out how all of this works.)

On your mark! Get set! Go!!!

Tyler and Cameron ran the Salt Lake City Marathon Kids 1k on Saturday, April 19. They had a great time. It was a little crazy for us getting there due to roads being closed and sidewalks that were under construction. Anyway, we made it. Ryan ran it with them so that they would feel comfortable. We didn't want them getting nervous and stopping in the middle of the road. The crowd at The Gateway was huge and they were all cheering the kids on and giving them high 5's as they passed. I'm sure that it felt really exhilirating. They didn't time the kids and I guess that there was no real "winner". They were all winners just because they participated. They received a t-shirt and a pair of running socks just for signing up. Their school will also receive $2.00 for each of them because they participated. Once they crossed the finish line by the Olympic fountain in Gateway, they got to go to the Winner's Circle and they received medals. They both did really well and ran the whole time without stopping. They only thing Tyler really had to say was, "Hey, where did everyone get those popsicles and how can I get one?" We're very proud of them.

Smile Peyton!

I try and try to get a picture of Peyton smiling. I have a handful of them, but this is what the vast majority looks like. Not that they're not cute. He really is a happy baby, just serious sometimes. Seconds before I pointed the camera at him, he was happy and sort of grinning. Then he saw the camera and turned it all off. What a stinker!

How clean is your house?

How clean is your house? is a television show on BBC America and I love watching it. It's morbidly fascinating to see just how disgusting some people will let their homes get. I'm not saying that I'm the perfect homemaker, far from it. However, I do try to do things on a fairly regular basis. For example, I have just finished doing the dishes, cleaning up the kitchen and vacuuming and dusting my living room. I'm pausing for a few moments before I head off to clean my bathroom. I guess that sounds like a lot, but in reality it's only taken me about an hour to do all of that. One thing that I am OCD about is dusting. I dust my living room and other areas at least twice a week. In fact, I do it so much that I've made the top of my piano so slick that pictures slid right off and the frames have broken. Let me tell you why I do this. DUST MITES! They are truly disgusting creatures. They feed on flakes of human skin and we each shed 1 gram of skin everyday. They go to the toilet often and their feces contain harmful enzymes. Asthma, eczema, bronchitis, itchy eyes or a stuffy nose can all be exacerbated or caused by dust mites. To keep the dust mite population under control you have to clean. You have to vacuum regularly to remove the dust mite food - your skin flakes. Dust with damp cloths to avoid making the dust airborne. Air out your house because warm, humid homes provide ideal conditions for them. They especially love living in our beds because they are warm and moist. They attach themselves to the fibers of our bedding and mattresses with the claws on each of their eight legs. So, wash your sheets at least once a week in hot water (140 F). Turn you mattress every so often also. So, now you know why I HAVE to dust. All I can see when I see dust is gross little creatures with sharp teeth gnawing away on skin.

Still no teeth Lieutenant Dan

The great American tooth watch of 2008 continues. Peyton's gums are very swollen, but he seems to be in good spirits. It is still early in the day, so he has plenty of time to get ornery. It will probably happen right when I need to do something like make dinner.

I caved and bought the boys yo yo's yesterday. Tyler thought that I was the most amazing mom in the world. (That's always a nice feeling to have your kids think of you that way.) He was also very excited that I just happened to choose the same color yo yo that the expert was demonstrating with in the assembly. Now he knows for sure that he's going to become the super awesome yo yo expert he was always meant to be.

Just a reminder to all the family out there interested in attending, Tyler & Cameron's race is tomorrow morning. It starts at 10:00 a.m. at the Gateway and is only .62 miles. So, it should be over in about 10-15 minutes. They've been running to school almost everyday (weather permitting) for the past couple of weeks to train. They're both very excited. We hope to see you there.

Happy Happy Birthday Dana Dear!

I just wanted to wish my mom, Dana, a happy birthday. I hope your day is a great one. (oh, by the way, she's 53 today.)

Love,

Christa

Cheese is my enemy, Peyton's teeth & Yo yo's

Cheese

In my effort to lose weight I have made a few lifestyle changes. The running is the exercise part, but I've also changed my diet. I've cut out sugar, which is not to say that I don't enjoy a sweet treat every once in a while, I've just made it more of a "treat" to eat it. I can honestly say that that has been easy. I don't really feel like I need it. Cheese is a different story. I LOVE cheesy, gooey things. If it's Italian food already covered in cheese, it's usually not enough and I have the waiter add extra parmesan cheese on top. It's always seemed the more fattening, the better. I've realized that cheese is my kryptonite and I've cut it out almost entirely. Oh how I miss it. Everyday I want to run to the refrigerator and eat it. I also love bacon. Like that has anything to do with cheese, but I do love it. Strange that I would seeing how I was a vegetarian for so long. It's just something that I really like. Ryan says that I would eat a donut if it was wrapped in bacon. Mmmm...bacon wrapped donut.

Teeth

Peyton has been threatening for quite some time now to get his first tooth. I think that it's closer than ever. He's been very irritable and had a mild fever on and off for the past few days. His gums feel swollen and he's constantly moving his tongue across them. He chews on everything. Socks, feet, hands (his own and other people's) toys, whatever. I hope it happens soon so that he can get some relief.

Yo yo's

Jackling Elementary had a NED assembly yesterday. Apparently, it's the most popular elementary assembly around. A group of people, excuse me, yo yo experts comes and dazzles the kids with amazing tricks and then tells them that all of the yo yo's used are available for purchase. So, of course, it was the first thing my kids talked about when they got home. Tyler nagged me from 3:00 when he got home until he went to bed at 9:00. He's absolutely convinced that he will be come a yo yo master if he gets one of the amazing NED ones. They both have a yo yo, but they both know that they'll never be any good unless they have the NED Boomerang yo yo. It is a fundraiser for the school and I always like to help out their school. We'll see.

You're getting littler Gilbert! You're shrinking!

I knew there was a reason I saved some of my old pants. I had kind of "outgrown" them, but I thought that I might possibly need them again someday. So, during our laundry room cleaning adventure, I found the old pants. I tried one pair on that was a size smaller than the ones I was currently wearing and they fit! Needless to say, I was reminded again of just how cool Christa is. Yesterday, I thought that I'd try for another self-esteem boost. I got out another pair that was a size smaller than the first ones I put on and... they fit also. I'm so glad that this whole working out thing is working out. I still haven't experienced that "runner's high" that some people talk about. In fact, pretty much everyday at some point during my run I think to myself, "I really hate this." That usually happens when my feet cramp up, but I can work through it and then I get to a point where I think it's sort of ok. I'm about 5 pounds down from when I started this blog. I still want to go for at least another 15. If I do that, I can buy all new pants.

Small project, big impact

Ryan has been nagging me (asking politely) for quite some time, to organize the laundry room. I would say that every couple of months I clean it up in some way. I try to take out the garbage fairly often, but sometimes it's not as regularly as I think. I even sweep and mop the floor in there when I do get around to cleaning the room. However, with 6 people in my family, there's always laundry to do. So, there were always piles of clothes on the floor waiting to be washed and that made it difficult to do a terrific job. I just couldn't ever seem to get it looking very good. Ryan tried to help by buying a large shelf a few months ago so that I could stack everyone's clean clothes on it. It did help tremendously. The kids can either leave their clothes on the shelf, or take them to their rooms. Just as long as they're not on the floor anymore. This helped a lot, but there was still the problem of all the dirty clothes on the floor. So, while I was out to lunch with my friends on Saturday, Ryan took it upon himself to really clean up and clean out the room. He even moved the washer and dryer and swept and mopped the floor under them. By the time I got home, he was practically done. I happily helped him finish up. We bagged up a lot of old clothes so that we can take them to the D.I. Then the best part of all, we went to IKEA and bought 5 laundry bins to sort the dirty laundry into. It's the most amazing thing in the world. I can actually see most of the floor now. The kids are getting the hang of it. Avery especially enjoys it because it plays into her current need to sort and organize things. The hangers hanging on the shelf are separated by color and this was done by Avery. If she sees an empty hanger on the bar hanging from the ceiling, she'll ask me to get it for her so she can "put it back where it belongs." She really likes things to be in their place. Cameron is the same way. Everything on his shelf has to be placed there the way he likes, or he has a major hissy fit. Tyler really couldn't care less. I'm just glad to have even a little bit of organization in there now. Thanks Ryan.

Hangin' with my homeys!

My friends and I have developed a tradition of sorts. We have been getting together to go out to lunch and celebrate each of our birthdays. Yesterday 6 of us went out to celebrate 4 birthdays. Tina - March 30, Jami - April 12, Bobie - April 15 & Kristen - April 22. Jillene's birthday is in October and mine is in November. We went to Olive Garden and had a great time hanging out. We all get together fairly often, it's just nice to be able to go without the kids. I feel so lucky to have such great friends who are fun and easy to talk to. I just want to wish them all a happy birthday!
On a side note, I discovered that Bobie grew up in the Granger 12th ward and that my Grandpa Cutler was her bishop while she was a youth. She said that she just loved him and he was so great and kind. Who knew? What a small world this is.

Confessions of a bad borrower

I have to admit that when it comes to borrowing things, and by things I mean books, I am a terrible borrower. I once borrowed some books from the Salt Lake City Library in Sugarhouse and misplaced them. I got all of the notices and couldn't find the books. I had no idea where I had put them. I just thought I would find them eventually and then return them. It didn't happen and suddenly months had passed. Then we moved from the area to West Valley and as I was packing, I found the books in some strange place. I thought to myself, "I will put these in this box where they will be safe and then return them when things have settled down." It has now been 9 years since I first borrowed the books and they are still sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be returned. Now that I have admitted this, the FBI will probably show up on my doorstep to haul me away and force me to return them. In spite of all the guilt I have felt over this it didn't teach me much of a lesson. I decided in December 2006 that I was a changed person and could be responsible enough to again borrow books and return them when they were due. I took my kids and we checked out a few to start out. I wasn't quite ready to jump back in with both feet. We read the books. We enjoyed the books and then I forgot to take the books back. I again got the notices in the mail. Thankfully, I still knew where the books were this time around, but I didn't remember to return them right away. I started getting the automatic phone calls telling me I was a schmuck and to bring back the books. I didn't remember to do it then. Finally, I got a letter saying that I just had to pay for the books if I wasn't going to return them. That was enough. They had finally scared me enough to return the books. Unfortunately, because of my bad borrowing habits, I still had to pay a big fine and by big I don't mean $10.00. It was enough to finally teach me a lesson. Since that time I have been almost fanatical about returning the books we borrow on time. (I also don't want to hear Ryan say that I'll never remember to take them back. I'm going to show him!) We were successful throughout the summer, but we haven't really been since Peyton was born. Last week we went to Hunter Library and borrowed several. So, the point of all of this is this: I am reminding myself that I have library books due on 4/22/08.

It's not easy to be neat when you're learning to eat!

Christa is cool

I just thought I should let everyone know how amazingly awesome I am. I ran another 5k today in 41:09. It was just about 5 minutes less than my first try. My first time was 46 minutes and some seconds. I wasn't smart enough to notice and remember the exact time when I finished. Ryan had better watch out. I just might catch up to him eventually because everyday and in every way, I'm getting better and better. I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and doggone it, people like me. (I think.)

Disclaimer

I have decided there is a necessity for a disclaimer about my writing, spelling & typing abilities. I must apologize for any errors you may have found here. (You'll probably find more in the future:)) I am usually under the influence of at least one and sometimes more children. If anyone has kids they should understand. If I don't have one crying, I have one climbing on me, or I have one screaming up to me from downstairs. I almost always have someone demanding something and if you know my kids it's usually a life or death situation for them. They have all been blessed with my lack of patience. So, consequently, I don't always remember to use spell check. I just try to get my thought down as quickly as possible and then get away. So, I apologize for any spelling, grammatical or other errors contained herein. I'll try to get to them and fix them eventually. Just remember, I'm usually hearing "MOM! He hit me! He's lying! He choked me! I did not! I want some chocolate milk! etc. while I am doing this.

My First 5k

I've decided to run a 5k in Murray on the 4th of July. I'll be running with 3 of my sister-in-laws. Sheena, Stephanie & Rachel. Yesterday, I decided to see if I could even do it. I usually only go just over 2 miles a day and a 5k is 3.1 miles. I did the first mile in just over 13 minutes because I was trying to take it slow and pace myself. However, I think I have really crappy arches in my feet and they started to cramp after that mile. So, I slowed my pace even more for the next mile. It took almost that next whole mile at an easy jog for the cramps to ease up. I then attempted to pick up the pace at the end. I did do it. It took 46 minutes which seems pretty pathetic to me. Especially, since Ryan can do it in about 24 minutes. I'm just telling myself that at least I did it and if I keep doing it the only thing that will happen is that I'll get faster. (I hope.)

More SL 10 Miler Pictures

I tried adding these before, but the server was having some sort of error. So, enjoy the rest of the pictures from the 10 mile race.

Peyton Likes His Highchair

Peyton has finally started eating in a highchair. Up till now, I've just been having him sit in his car seat or bouncer while I fed him. So far, he seems to like it. He won't sit in it for very long unless he's eating and I have to feed him while it's in the reclined position. He kind of tends to lean to one side when he's been sitting upright for too long. He's only 6 months old, so he'll get the hang of it eventually.

Salt Lake 10 Miler

My husband, Ryan, participated in the Salt Lake 10 Miler race on Saturday, April 5. The race started in Emigration Canyon and wound around, ending at the This is the Place Monument. He finished with a time of 1:17:00. He said he was averaging 7:40 miles throughout the race. I know that I'll never be able to go that fast, but my goal is to try the same race next year. Ryan's brother Darrell also ran and finished in 1:22:00. I guess they're both speed demons. I would never be able to keep up.

The kids and I went to meet them at the finish line and if we had been there 5 minutes sooner we could have seen him cross. We had to park across the street from the finish line. My in-laws were there and met me at the parking lot. We were all standing at the corner waiting to cross the street when I spotted Ryan. So, I don't have a picture of him crossing. The blue speck is him approaching it and us watching from across the street. We were able to get to him about 30 seconds after he finished. We did see Darrell cross. My kids were all very impressed. The 2 older boys especially. They're both going to run a kids 1k in the Salt Lake City marathon on April 19th. We bought them new running shoes that they've been wearing all the time so that they can break them in. They're also wearing them because they look like their dad's and they think that's awesome. Today I was about 5 minutes late picking up Cameron from school. He said that it was ok I was late, because while he was waiting he ran 2 laps on the sidewalk around the roundabout drop-off area. He said he was doing it to train for his race. Both boys also like to "train" by running on the treadmill.

Meet My Family

This is Cameron. He's 6 years old. He's

a very funny, quirky kid. He also very

sweet and sensitive. He loves to draw

and color. He likes to watch movies

and pretty much anything on Nickelodeon or

Disney. Especially Spongebob, Hannah Montana

and the Suite Life of Zach & Cody. He's a very smart kid.

He's testing at high levels. Being quirky can have it's ups & downs.

He tends to veer a little to the OCD side of things. So, combining

being smart and a little OCD can be a little interesting.

He likes to "help" everyone stay on task at school.

He also likes to help those at school and make

sure that they're doing their work right.

This is Peyton. He's 6 months old and is a great baby.

He likes bananas, sweet potatoes, rice, bread, yogurt

and many other baby friendly foods. He's a great sleeper

and has been sleeping through the night since he was just over

a month old. He's a sweet baby who can be very serious

at times, but is also very social. He loves it when people talk

to him and with the serious side, he will just watch for a while.

Then when he warms up, he has a huge grin and giggles.

This is Tyler. He's 8 years old. He loves Guitar Hero

and can play almost any song from any one of the games

in the expert mode. He loves to surf the internet. He likes

going to nick.com, didney.com & homestarruner.com. One of his

favorite activities is going to YouTube and watching videos of

people playing Guitar Hero. He is also a very smart kid. He tested

at a 5th grade reading level when he was in Kindergarten. He's up into

the junior high levels now.He always scores high in all subjects

and the real challenge with him is finding

things to challenge him. He loves watching movies and the same

kind of tv shows as his brother. He's very creative and is constantly

writing stories and song lyrics. His dream is to be in a band and

be a famous rock star.

This is Avery. She's 3 years old. She wants to be a Princess

when she grows up. She's actually said this. She loves to dance

and will be beginning dance lessons in September. She loves Ariel,

The Little Mermaid. She loves to play dress-up and loves to play with her dolls.

Since she's the only girl, I guess she does tend

to be a little spoiled. She likes to boss around her brothers and loves

playing with her dad. She is very princessy, but also loves to get out

and play with her brothers.

They're all such great kids with wonderful and individual personalities. They can make me crazy because patience is not something that I'm blessed with in abundance. I'm working on it. I try hard everyday to not get so worked up over silly stuff. They can also make me laugh like no one else can. They're all hillarious. I also think that they're all clones of their father. Tyler & Peyton might resemble me in ways sometimes, but all of them look like their dad the most. Oh well. I think that he's cute, so they turned out ok. I'm so blessed to have all of them.

My dad has always called me Chrissie Pooh. It's pretty much the only nickname I've ever had that's stuck. Except my mom's family used to call me "Christa D". D for my middle name Diane. My dad will always ask my kid's "Hey! What's her name?" They'll usually answer "Christa" or "mom". He'll say "No, it's Chrissie Pooh." For some reason this name really annoys them. They also like to tease my dad and disagree. They'll say in response, "Grandpa, her name is Christa or Mom. Not Chrissie Pooh, so don't call her that." They're all very smart kids and they know that he's just teasing them, but they still hate the name. Apparently it's too embarrassing and silly to be uttered. Chrissie Pooh is what I have always been and Chrissie Pooh is what the name of this blog will be.

Introduction

I've decided to join the vast world of blogging. I'm doing this more for the benefit of my kids more than anyone else. My 8 year old son loves to surf the internet. So, I'm sure that if he got to look at this and see pictures of himself he would think that was pretty cool.

Allow me to introduce myself:

My name is Christa Hendriksen. I am 32 years old. I live in Salt Lake City, Utah. I married my wonderful husband Ryan on September 11, 1998. When people hear that date they usually respond with something like "oh, really? It must be really hard" What they don't "hear" is that we were married 3 years before the tererible terrorist attacks. Not on the same day, so the date holds good memories for us. My husband and I also have siblings born on that day. Me a brother & Ryan a sister. Both of them were born in 1977 as well in different hospitals however. We have 4 terrific children. Tyler - 8, Cameron - 6, Avery - 3 & Peyton - 6 months. We have lived in our current home for 2 years and don't plan on moving anytime soon. I hate doing it and I'm happy right where I am.

I have lived in Utah my entire life and not only in Utah but within about a 5-10 mile radius of where I am right now. A few different homes, but none of them very far apart from each other.
We enjoy being close to all of our family and we have made some wonderful friends where we live now.

I am LDS and have been a member of the church my entire life. I love the peace, love and joy that this gospel brings into my life. There was a time when I wasn't always the most active in the church. I know for a hard learned fact that I never really found true happiness in my life unless, I am living the gospel. I currently serve as the primary president in my ward and although it wasn't my first idea of a calling that I would be good at, I can honestly say that I am enjoying it. It brings great blessings into my life to serve the children in my ward.

I have several hobbies, or just things that I enjoy doing. My husband said that my user name here should be "scrapbook crap queen". I do love scrapbooking. It's not something that I ever thought I would like doing. I kind of went into it kicking and screaming. I thought that it was just something that cutesie LDS moms did, but once I started I found that I love the creative process and the queit time I get to enjoy while I do it. I usually do it when kids are taking a nap, watching a movie, or asleep at night. I participate with friends in 2 different "page exchange" groups. If you have ever heard of card exchange groups, this is the same thing. Only with scrapbook pages. There are 12 people in each group and 4 times a year we get together to exchange pages. We have a theme that we create our pages around. You make 12 of the same layout and everyone else does 12 of their own. Then you swap them and you go home with 12 different layouts, including one of your own. I love doing it because with 4 children, it's nice to have loads of ready made pages that you just have to mount their pictures on to. It saves me a lot of time. My husband, jokingly I think, teases me about it. I tell him I'm preserving memories for our children and making a record of their lives. So, just leave me alone.

I love to read. My favorite types of books are: true crime, mystery, thriller and sometimes horror. I also enjoy some self-help books and that could include too many things to list. I enjoy watercolor painting, but haven't been able to do it for a long time. I enjoy movies. Spending time with friends, etc. I guess stuff that pretty much everyone else in the world likes to do.

I am attempting right now to lose weight. After having 4 kids, I think that anyone would want to lose some. I could stand to lose about 20 more pounds. Losing that much would put me back at my weight before I had my first child. I'm 37 pounds lighter (that sounds truly disgusting) then I was when I delivered my last son. I have been running around 2 miles on my treadmill about 5 days a week. I've also made some changes to my diet. I was a vegetarian from the age of 14 to 22. I'm kind of going back that route, just in a modified way.

Well, I guess that's enough about me for now. I have a crying baby to attend to and there's always time to do this later.