Sand, surf and sun

Sydney slept in, Toby added to his collection of freckles and has pink cheeks, Logan has wind burn on his face, Jessie is back asleep at 11 AM and my back is so sore and hurting. All this adds up to a successful day at the beach yesterday. I'm not sure how the Mister is today. Hopefully, he is not as drained as I am. I know we both had a hard time getting out of bed this morning. A day in the sun really sucks out your energy.

Sadly, yesterday was our first and last beach trip of the summer. Where did those 2 1/2 months go? Too fast, I know that much is true. I'm not ready for school to start. All our kids love spending time at the beach. We met friends from church there and my family came later for dinner. There were plenty of other kids there to play with, and our kids are all old enough that we weren't constantly taking care of them. That was a nice change. We played frisbee & Kubb, flew kites, dug holes, and watched the pelicans fish right in front of us.

We all stayed busy and the afternoon went by very quickly. There was one point when Syd got a little overwhelmed with the loud waves and cold water, but she walked up out of the surf and had a great time in the sand. The boys would dabble in the waves, but stuck mostly to playing and digging in the sand. Toby particularly liked flying the kite. Jess didn't get out of the ocean much all afternoon. I think she's crazy because it was c-c-cold. At one point a large seal popped up right next to her group out in the water. He watched them for a second and then disappeared. I'm glad it was a seal and not a shark. I hadn't forgotten that this beach was closed weeks ago because of shark sightings. I'm partially glad the Mister forgot his wetsuit so he couldn't swim in the ocean for that reason. He wouldn't go in otherwise, again, the water was cold enough to freeze man parts off.

We celebrated my brother Dan's birthday with a delicious roast (thanks Mom!), mashed potatoes, veggies and cupcakes around the fire. Not your usual beach campfire fare, but it was a special occasion. I hope my family had a good time even though they couldn't stay until late. The rest of us ate smores and played mafia until 10 o'clock. We thought the rangers would come kick us off the beach as they usually do when curfew hits, but there was no sign of them at 10:30 when we finally pulled out of the parking lot. Part of me wanted to let the kids sleep in the car (really close to our fire for all you strangers who love to tell me how to parent) and chill around the fire with the Mister for awhile. We still had a 45 minute drive home and walking in the sand was killing my not-completely-healed back, so we said goodbye to the ocean until next time. I think next time will be soon, before it gets too cold at night.

J-bird turns 9!

Our dear Jessie.

I know I'm prejudice, being this girls' Mom and all, but she is beautiful. It's a good thing she's so cute because her spunk and attitude give me fits sometimes. Grandpa Bennett nicknamed this look she gives "the black widow" because it's a look that could kill.

See what I mean? At-ti-tude. That's not even straight to the camera or we'd all be dead. To her credit, Jessie knows what she wants and she rarely backs down until she gets is. She is a wonderful, fun and mostly patient big sister to her two crazy brothers and sweet baby sister. I hope Jessie and Sydney will be great friends and close sisters. I didn't have a sister growing up and I look forward to watching my girls' relationship blossom. Sydney thinks Jess is the best because she sings songs with her, plays with her outside, and loves to be her walking buddy when we are out in public.

Toby missed playing big kid games with Jessie while she was away this week. Their favorite game this summer, which Jess always suggested first, was dodge tag out front. Jessie is so competitive that I know it was hard for her to let her younger brothers hit her. J realized, after some coaching from Mom, that is was more enjoyable when everyone was having fun, not when she won every time. Logan especially loves dodge tag when J holds his hand to run "super fast" past Toby. He really knows how to push J's buttons in an attempt to get her attention. J is learning to ignore the pestering and play nicely with Logan, and then they are best buds.

When I think how Jessie has changed and grown in the past year I realize that she is very independent. Independence comes with the territory, as the oldest child, but she really can handle herself and her siblings when I ask her to. She has learned to cook more in the kitchen, I can count on her to do her schoolwork without nagging, and she loves to be put in charge so she can boss the boys around. I've learned that I need to hold my temper and always try to speak with a nice tone even when I'm at the end of my rope, because when Jessie switches on little Mommy mode, she parrots me pretty accurately.

Jessie is a very determined little girl. I can tell she really thinks things through in her head and if they don't turn out the way she planned, or more likely, if her plans contradict MY plans then she gets upset quickly. We are so much alike in ways.

I love that my pretty little girl is brave and tough underneath her girly side. She yanks out loose teeth like it's no big deal, she loves wrestling with all the boys in the house, and she is not afraid to get pummeled by a softball, which happened many times this past season. The girly side of Jess loves to play with ponies, Polly Pockets and her stuffed animals, and they are often playing house or doing battle with the boys' robots and action figures. She started taking piano lessons almost a year ago and finds that she loves it. My wish for her is to be proficient on the piano and then find another instrument that she loves just as much. That's my goal for all the kids, actually. Finally, Jessie has found a spot in her heart for reading. We have been trying to teach her to enjoy a good story, and it finally clicked this summer. She devoured a book a day for a couple weeks which tapered down a bit as we got busy.

Ssshhhhh, it's a secret that J still likes to sleep with her "softy" (blanket) that I made her at age 2. I hope she still loves it when she moves out of our home. She's gonna kill me if and when she reads this, but it reminds me that she is still a child. I rely on her help so much, yet I am constantly reminding myself to cut her some slack to be a kid.

We had a birthday celebration that included a movie of J's choice (at home), bowling, window shopping at the pet store, and dinner at Fresh Choice with Grandma's and Grandpa Dave. We came home for cake and presents which Jessie was pleasantly surprised with. "When did you buy presents?" she asked in surprise. When you were sleeping over at Brennah's house, my dear. We tried to get a trip to the beach planned for the day, but none of J's friends could go and after over-doing it the day before, I was not able to get everything ready without the Mister (at work). We opted to stay home and do the beach another day. The only thing that would have made the day perfect for J would have been some time in the pool. We will make up for that tomorrow.

I thought I could whip up J's cake in the morning while the kids lazed around and watched a movie, at Jessie's request. The cake dragged into the afternoon and threatened to self destruct before I even finished because of the heat. I didn't realize it was 99 flippin' degrees here yesterday, and our little room air conditioner couldn't keep up once I turned it on late. Thankfully, the cake didn't melt, but the frosting was on the brink. J requested a star cake and was happy with the result. I'm still going strong with my goal to make everyone's birthday cake in our family, and attempt to put something special into it. It feels good to just do something I've always wanted to try. Sounds like a Nike commercial eh? Just do it.

Chocolate and french vanilla cake with almond buttercream frosting. It turned out all right. The Mister didn't like the frosting, but he's a hard one to please when it comes to cake. He's not a frosting guy either. If anyone has an awesome recipe for frosting I would love a copy. I gotta get it right for the Mister's birthday soon.

Summer is slipping away

Things are looking up at our house. Everyone has recovered from a nasty bout of the puke bug. The entire family got it but me. It ruined our weekend plans, but I'm trying to get over that. After all, I have to figure out how to slow down time since this is the last week before school starts up again. Where did the slow summer months go? I feel like a flop of a Mom because so much time was sucked up with me being immovable with this back injury and family sickness. I don't remember the family being sick during the summer so much. It really shouldn't be allowed.

Jessie was the first to get sick last Wednesday, so she was feeling great by Sunday morning when we planned on visiting family. Since Dave and the boys were still dehydrated zombies recovering from the pukes and I couldn't drive by myself, we sent Jess with my parents to hear my cousin's mission report. Lucky J got an early birthday present because she got to stay and play with my young cousin Brennah for 3 days. Dear Brennah is the sweetest girl. She's a champion for donating blood and is in the August 2009 issue of the Friend if you want to read her story. I just talked to Jess this morning and she is having so much fun that she doesn't want to come home today. But birthday celebrations call her home.

We are gearing up for a big weekend and trying to fit in the last things on our summer to do list. Really, I need another month of summer and I'm a fall girl at heart. That tells me how behind we got on summer plans. More to come........

Brain Dump

It's been a pretty pathetic week- one of those where I won't remember much because all the days are blurring together. I actually looked at the date on the computer today and couldn't believe it is the 21st already. My last day of clear thought where I felt with it was the 14th. Yikes.

The kids all got sick yesterday within several hours of each other and threw up every possible ounce of liquid and food in their stomachs. It was pretty gross. We were literally moving from one kid to the next and didn't get much sleep as the boys started to pop about 10 last night. Toby was Mt. Vesuvius, exploding while half asleep in bed. It's a good thing he had a waterproof liner on his mattress because it's the only thing that saved it. I'm just thankful the Mister was home to take the lead on this one. I am a lot more mobile than when I injured my back last Saturday, but I still can't lift, twist, bend down and sit or stand for too long. It's gonna be longer than I am willing to admit until I am 100% again. I guess "the puke bug" has been a blessing in disguise because all the chillies just want to veg out today. Since that's more my speed right now, we are having a lazy day reading, sleeping and watching movies, and I don't feel bad that I can't do more with them. Content for now.

Thanks to family and friends who have helped me this week with meals and taking the kids out for some fun. Thanks Mom for coming over to help me with meals and kids even though that's all you did for the 4 previous days. The chills got to play with their Thompson friends and J and Tob went bowling with Gram and Sam yesterday. Thanks again.

I realized last night when I went to the laundry room with Dave that it was the first time I'd been outside since we came home on Monday. It was Thursday night. Pathetic.

I haven't done my hair, worn makeup or real pants in a week and the Mister still thinks I'm hot. :) I'm a blessed woman.

Logan said to me this week, "Mom, why are you so boring?!" The kids see me up more and think I'm better all of the sudden. So frustrating.

I can't bend over or lift my legs up in the shower to wash my feet or do my toes. They're really starting to bug and look scary. Sad.

My mind races a mile a minute with things I want to do right now, yet when I could do those things they were the last thing on my mind. Ironic.

Looking back, it seems our home gets struck with illness or injury once or twice a year and I am more and more thankful for an otherwise healthy family. Truly blessed.

And lastly, it's amazing how much those little muscles that you don't feel until a killer workout or injury affect your life when they don't work properly. I need to take better care of myself. The Mister is doing his "I told you so" dance on that one.

I'm thankful the Mister has been so understanding and patient with me during all this craziness. He's awesome!

That's all the randomness I got for now.

Tri for Fun until somebody gets hurt

It was a beautiful morning yesterday when Dave completed the Tri for Fun triathlon. My Man is awesome! As is usually the case, he didn't get enough time to train this summer with the demands of his business and family. I thought he did a wonderful job though! One of the main reasons I hesitate to do a triathlon is the swim. I'm just not a good lap swimmer and haven't had the desire to improve. That is not the case with the Mister though. He had an awesome swim, coming out of the water in the top 10-15 of his age bracket. Whenever he has time at work, he heads to the YMCA to swim, which has improved his speed and endurance in the pool. It showed yesterday. The bike leg went well and Dave said he felt great going into the last leg of the race. We timed when Dave would finish and waited anxiously at the finish line less than 10 minutes when he came around the corner. The kids gave him high fives and he looked great- not too tired. He finished in just over an hour and a half, I think. My mind wasn't very clear at that point.

So that's the overview. What happened in between all that swimming, biking and running laid me up indefinitely. The three older kids and I left at 6:15 AM to make it in time to see Dave start at 7 AM. We had just parked and walked into the venue when I noticed a lot of swimmers were still waiting on the beach. It turned out they started the race late because there was so much traffic getting into the park, which is what made us late as well. I did a quick lap around the beach area and found Dave just as the announcer explained the racing heats. The kids were playing on another part of the beach, so I raced back to get them to take a quick picture and give smooches before Dave started. I leaned sideways and bent down to help Logan up from his sand castle when something in my lower back froze up and cracked. The light got dim, my legs felt like Jello, all my muscles around my abdomen seized up and I could barely breath. It was pretty darn scary. All I could think was, 'just get back to Dave.' Really though, what was he going to be able to do for me? He was in his wetsuit minutes before the race and I just did major damage to my back. He couldn't just adjust me, do some ART and fix everything quick like usual. I wanted to hobble straight back to the car, drive home, lay down and ice my back immediately. How could we leave before the race had even begun?! We had got up and out the door at the crack of dawn to get there on time, and I knew Dave would be disappointed if we missed seeing him race. I put my game face on for the next 2 hours while we waited for Dave to complete each leg of the race. Thankfully, the kids were content to play in the water while we waited, and I didn't care much that they got their only clothes and shoes soaked and sandy. I tried to sit (it really hurt!) with a friend whose hubby also completed the race, and was lucky to catch Dave during both transitions and the finish to cheer my hardest with camera in hand.

I know I made things worse by moving around and walking so much because the pain was increasing. After Dave collected his things we headed to the cars to see if I could drive home. I shuffled back to the car using Dave's bike as a crutch and slid gingerly into the drivers seat. My back was burning, aching and sending shots of pain down the nerves in my legs and I couldn't help but burst into tears. I think I freaked everyone out a little. It was the only thing I could do to show my frustration, disbelief, and disappointment with my situation. Dave came over to make sure I wanted to drive home and, after I assured him I could do it, he shut the door. The kids were silent until Toby said, "Mom, I think you're getting pregnant." Where do they come up with these things?!!

What the kids didn't realize was that I sprained my back pretty badly while we were camping 3 weeks ago by falling down a hill with a heavy box in my hands. Dave got mad at me for not resting it properly which led to this final straw injury. I don't think he realizes just how much I have to lift and carry to keep up with the kids and housework. Well, now I'm forced to lay in bed and take it easy until my back is better because I can't even walk. I guess I should have taken a day or two in bed 3 weeks ago when I first injured it.

Life right now consists of ice packs every two hours, left over Vicodin from Logan's birth (still works just fine even after the 'expiration date'), lots of visits from the kids while I'm in bed and wishing I could just get up and help out. Thankfully, I am writing this from my parents house who have helped us so much while I am laid up. We had already arranged to stay at their house this weekend because our place is being fumigated. Dave and my parents have been so gracious and understanding while the kids tear up the house and run crazy while I'm stuck in bed. Mom even did my laundry for me (Thanks so much!) and took care of countless meals, diapers, chores, etc. with Dave. I'm trying to make the most of my forced vacation. The kids think it's hilarious that I walk like an old lady with a makeshift cane- I'll never look at a Swiffer mop the same again. The only time I do walk is to get to the bathroom and that takes about 15 minutes round trip. All the kids have been so understanding and great helpers to bring me food, books, the laptop charger and anything I need to pass the time while they bug Grammy and Grampy. ;)

I can't wait to be mobile again.