our brave girl

****Warning- picture below might scare babies and young children!;)*****

Sweet Jessie cut her face open yesterday and we spent 4 hours in the ER getting it stitched up. The chillies and I were almost ready to walk Lake Elizabeth with Gramma Evie at 8:30 AM. Jessie and TJ had helmets on and scooters ready. Logan was exploring on the grass and riding J's scooter with her. I was just packing up the diaper bag in the car when Jessie let out a panicked cry that I instantly knew meant trouble. I turned around to see her face gushing blood from a huge gash right above her mouth. She had lowered her handle bars to let Logan ride her scooter and then tried to ride it with the bars low. She lost her balance and hit the edge of the bar on her way to the ground. After a minute putting pressure on her cut with a napkin it was obvious J needed stitches. I told J we had to go to the hospital to get the cut stitched up. She looked at me and said, "Does that mean we can't go around the Lake?" :( Gramma Evie pulled up and we were off to the ER. J and I stayed while Grammy took the boys to her house.

We sat in the waiting room for 45 minutes to get a bed. Then we waited for the ER Doc. Then we waited for the plastic surgeon who was in surgery. I read stories to J and she colored to pass the time. Finally, the plastic surgeon came in and took a look at J's cut. He explained what he was going to do and went off to get supplies. I tried to explain further to J what was going to happen; there would be a sharp pinch when the Dr. put sleepy juice in the cut and then she wouldn't feel anything while he stitched her up. As long as J knows what is coming she is a trooper in dealing with any pain or discomfort. Unfortunately, both Dr. and I negelected to mention that he would have to shoot her up more than once. Watching J struggle and cry under nurse Karen and my hands was almost heartbreaking. I whispered to her to "be still" and it would be over faster and she did. She layed there and took the last couple shots like a trooper. Towards the end of the procedure J almost fell asleep (although she did ask several times if he was done yet.)

It was pretty amazing to watch Dr. stitch her up. I'm so glad we waited all that time for a plastic surgeon because his work was so clean that J should have little scarring after it fades. Twenty stitches later and we were off to ice her quickly swelling face and chill out the rest of the day. Good thing we had no plans.

J chillin' on the couch at Grammy Evie's with Jamba Juice for lunch. We spent Family Night eating dinner and watching Nanny McPhee (super cute movie) since J didn't feel well.

5 going on 15!

Hubby and I are unwinding in the living room while Jess is taking a shower. We can hear her playing, laughing and singing a variety of songs from Wonder Pets to her own creations. I figured she was doing the usual stacking cups of water and lathering up. Daddy goes in to check on her and I hear him say, "blah, blah, blah, with the RAZOR?"

Great. The girl has got a hold of the razor? She's only five. I can understand her desire though. The sweet thing probably has more hair on her body than her 16-month-old brother has on his entire head. Jess was sitting in the tub merrily shaving all the hair off her arms and legs. I just hope it doesn't grow back much darker.

After a quick talk about how we don't shave our legs until about 12 years old, Jess finished her bedtime routine. "Come on silky smooth," Daddy says. "It's time for bed."

Laser hair removal is definately in Ms. Jess' future. Hopefully, it will be a lot cheaper then.

yesterday was a....

good day. So good that I didn't take time to write about it until now. Just enjoyed my chillies, had a nap, and made a nice meal for company. It went something like this:

1. woke up with the kids about 7 AM in time to say goodbye to Daddy
2. chill out on the couch with all 3 chillies for a couple cartoons
3. got dressed and ate cold cereal for breakfast
4. TJ and Jess put on new soccer shoes/shin guards and socks to go kick around their new soccer balls- they're both excited to start soccer next month.

Silly Coop found a puddle after the sprinklers were on and decided to wash his hair. Bend over, dip hair, stand up and drink water dripping off nose. Gross.

5. read with Jess, played swords, ball, soccer and rode scooters/bikes outside until 11:30 AM
6. fixed leftovers for lunch
7. avoided all housework, phonecalls and apartment business
8. Coop and Jess take naps, TJ doesn't nap but played quietly in his room so I layed down for an hour snooze.
9. woke up, went to the grocery store to get food for dinner with the Elders
10. TJ passed out on the couch while I fixed hawaiin haystacks & corn on the cob for dinner- just what elder morris wanted
11. Dad gets home from clinic/school just in time to eat
12. bathe Jess and Coop after dinner and chill out with daddy before bed.
13. enjoy the quiet, read, watch tv with hubby

The moral of this story? The less cleaning and work I do, the better the day. Just hung out and enjoyed my family.

break from vacation..........

We got back from camping for a week in Pinecrest last Saturday afternoon. Four days later I'm still catching up on laundry, housecleaning, paperwork and the like. So I told myself I would never go camping again without hubby after last years tiring, frustrating week in the woods. I stayed with family who helped a lot, but I was still responsible for feeding, bathing, and disciplining 3 kids while trying to keep up with the dirt. Yuck.

This year was going to be different. Hubby spent 2 days with us and we stayed in a cabin instead of roughing it in a tent. We spent most the days at the campsite in Pinecrest then went home for wonderful hot showers, a kitchen and washer/dryer- a Mom's best friend when in the mountains with chillies. Thankfully, this year was a more pleasant experience and I wasn't stressed out every minute. Highlights included fishing on Uncle Mark's new boat (J), playing in Pinecrest Lake, roasting marshmallows (T) and making smores (Mom) at the campfire, and that clean fresh pine smell in the air (Dad). I almost forgot the raging Nerf dart gun fights we had in the cabin. Dad found a bunch of guns cheap at Walmart in Sonora and outfitted the entire family for a huge showdown. It was crazy fun!



Jess had a rough first 3 days up there. She threw-up twice before we left so she was pretty tired and dehydrated already when we got up to Twain Harte where the cabin was. Three more days of nauseu, throwing up and lethargy and we figured out that J probably had altitude sickness. After numerous cups of ice chips and a strict BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce and toast) she was as good as new 12 hours later. J felt better just in time to go fishing on Uncle Mark's boat and show everybody up by cathcing 4 fish in about an hour. Grandpa B and Sam caught one. Mom and Toby caught zippo.


Toby talked about catching a fish all week. The first time he went with Mom and the gang on Mark's boat he caught nothing. Two nights later Grandpa B and Mark took him again. Toby finally caught a fish that night. After reeling it in and watching it flip around in the net he got a little scared. The first words out of his mouth were, "Put it back!" The rest of Toby's camping vacation was shooting water guns wherever he wanted (except people), peeing in the bushes and trees, stick swords, and flirting with Aunt Tori's friends and the 10 year-old girls in the next campsite. He can attract quite a group of ladies already. I don't want to see him at 16.

Little Coop was in heaven with dirt, rocks and water bottles all around. He acquired a new hobby while camping- turning water bottle lids off and on and dumping half the bottle down his shirt in an attempt to get a drink. Any water in his sight was not safe from his dirty, sneaky hands. He loves working the cap and probably felt nice and cool with a wet shirt most the day.

I don't think Great-Grandma B will go back to camping in a tent trailer in the dirt. We converted her to staying in a cabin and visiting the dirt and lake during the day.

So "camping" was a success. It's nice to be home though.



Beautiful Strawberry River


Chillies loved seeing the huge windmills in the Livermore hills.

the unholy trinity................

of bodily fluids that is. Poop, puke and pee. I dread cleaning them up in that order. It's no surprise that I wanted to crawl back in bed by 8 AM this morning after cleaning up ALL 3!

J has been sick since Wednesday when she puked on the living room rug. Nothing since then until I went to check on her this morning. She looks up at me and says, "Mom, I puked last night but was too tired to get out of bed." *sigh* First thought- great she's been rolling around in wet puke all night. Thankfully, she quickly leaned over her top bunk and puked on TJ's clothes from the day before that he forgot to put in the can(hamper). Great aim J! Now I only had some splatter on the carpet and laundry to do instead of shampoo the entire area again.

In the middle of Pukefest TJ wakes up and announces he peed all over his bed. *grrr* By itself that is easy to take care of but I'm still worrying about J and the puke.

And the final straw? Coop wanders in the kids room with the cutest look on his face and poop streaming down his leg. *Aaahhhh!* Suddenly, I am wishing hubby would magically walk in the front door complete with superhero cape to save my day. No luck. He's busy saving the world one patient at a time at school/clinic.

So the plan of attack became-
1. clean the kids up and turn on a cartoon for them to watch
2. clean up all the mess as quickly as possible and throw everything in the laundry with an extra kick of bleach
3. Bleach the kids room, bathroom and well, basically the whole house and forget about the entire morning.

As a Mom I have to expect days like this. I'd like to think I am learning to handle the chaos more calmly and with less stress. Seriously, I'm ready for a nap at noon.