Take a ride on the "Potty Train"

Potty training has begun!!!! ARRGGG! Averi isn't liking the changes, she has been crying on and off at the drop of a hat like I do when I have PMS!

The main problem I have with this is that Averi thinks the toilet is a performance stage. Also, she is such a creature of habit that anything I do or say while she is on the toilet will forever become part of her permanent routine, so I have to watch what I do. For example, I let her talk into a cup one time, and now she has to do it every time. It makes a cool echo, so she likes to make up stories or pretend like it is a overhead intercom in on of the many stores we go to. She copies and has all of the different store messages memorized and imitates them well. She also makes up rhymes and stories that I have no clue what she is saying, it is entertaining!

My kids are at a science/math camp for 6 hrs. each day last week, so I thought this would be a perfect time for the "potty training". Another problem...she thinks a potty training is a "potty train" choo choo! I will need to reword that! Anyway, wish me luck! Send me some Xanax if you have any to spare, I really need it!!!!

I have the cutest video of her making up rhymes on the toilet, but I can't get it to load, must be too big! I will try again later.

HAPPY 35TH BIRTHDAY TO JAMES!!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet husband!!! Poor James has had soooo much stress at work this past couple of months. He is in charge of a hospital picnic tomorrow (about 3000 people will be there), and on top of that he has HUGE projects he has to complete for the summer. He won't let me buy him anything for his birthday, we are trying to make it special, but it's not working out! He is turning 35 today!

We love him so much! He is the best husband and dad anyone could ever ask for!

Hugs Sand Kisses!

Great weekend with the kids. We have had a lazy, rainy weekend. James is so great! He decided to build the kids a sandbox for the back yard. He is so crafty and handy. He did an awesome job. I took some cute pictures of the kids watching him, it was crackin' me up! I will post the finished product when we are all done!

I'm baaaaack.... with a vengeance!!!!

Did you know that without a camera it was physically impossible for me to blog?!? My kiddos broke my old camera one day and it was like someone cut of my fingers and I couldn't type anymore! I am such a visual person...I have to have visual aids for everything-including my life I guess!

Well...hallelujah I have a new camera! Now I can begin my blog life again!

Where do I start? WE ADOPTED TWINS!!! Not people twins, "hot dog" twins! Our kids have been begging us forever to let them have puppies and the time was right, so we took the plunge!
We named them Bandit and Scout. They came with the names Chubs and Elliot which I loved, but the kids wanted to be in control of EVERYTHING! They are both little boys, and they are so cute. We got them from Averi's aide from school (who is the most awesome person). She breeds them to have this special color like a Weimaraner dog.

Needless to say...we are in love with them. I feel like a new mommy. My kids hold them ALL DAY LONG. It has been a nice transition to summer break, that's for sure! My kids aren't whining to me that they are bored all day long, and they are cleaning up the POOP! So far, so good. We'll see what happens as the summer progresses.

Taylor keeps saying "I know it's real because I keep pinching myself and I am not waking up from a dream". It cracks me up! She loves animals SOOOOO much. They keep hugging me and telling me they love me. Averi even loves them. She loves wind chimes a little more, but she calls the puppies by name and pets them.



Averi with Grandma Empey's wind chimes!
and wanting to hold Bandit.





AWWWW! PUPPY LOVE!



Our first road trip to the Tetons.





This is the famous "MISS CHRIS" (Averi's aid) who we adore! These are the parents of
Scout and Bandit.

Snow, snot, and September...that's what dreams are made of!

I would love to post Easter egg hunt pics., but my kids broke my camera! Ugg! We got to go to a ward hunt, and then we took Averi to a "beeping" egg hunt! It was so fun for her. All of my kiddos had a great time. James and I were interviewed on the news, which is my nightmare! I will post James' video, they didn't have one of me to post (yahoo).

We have had the sick bug visiting and it won't leave! Averi has a sinus infection and she has been home all week! She is so sweet, but she is so bored here-we drive each other crazy! I need the other kids to distract her. I can't get anything done with her home! I do like the one-on-one time though. She is such a funny kid.

I have to officially post that I am not too fond of Mother Nature right now! I have spring fever soooo bad! I think I get that SADD thing from the winter and no sunshine. I just want to get out and take my kids for bike rides and walks, but it keeps snowing! What the heck?!? I think I will need to up my prozac doses soon!

Did I mention that James and I are going on a Caribbean cruise? Well...I will be talking about it all the way until September. I have that long to look forward to beaches and swimming with dolphins. The good thing is that I have that long to loose weight. I hate having to lose weight! My body is my enemy sometimes. My mouth has compulsive behavior patterns that force me to eat sweets! I try to stop it, but I can't! So...needless to say, I am going to be cranky until September.

Here is the link to watch James on the news. It won't let me click on it, you have to paste and copy it into the search thingy. Sorry!

http://www.kidk.com/news/local/42856027.html

Spring whine fest 2009

Warning!!! This is going to be a WHINY blog post!

I NEED AN ASSISTANT!!! You know like those high power worker people who have a little helper that does all of the details for them? I need one of those! I am tired and overwhelmed by the list of things I have to do to help little Averi! Of course I would do anything for any of my kids, but Averi's list is just A LOT harder! These are my problems:

1) I need to potty train her.

2) I need to teach her how to chew food! She still only eats baby food!

3) I need to make her some braille books.

4) I need to figure out where she is going to go to kindergarten.

Just one of these tasks is too much for me! I am not competent to do these things! Averi is obsessed with flushing the toilet, so potty training is almost impossible! She refuses to eat real food and barfs when I try to make her!

I don't remember my braille very good, so it will take me 10 times longer to make braille books! And...last but not least KINDERGARTEN!!! I have to send her to ANOTHER year of kindergarten because of her social issues!

This all really needs to be done by the end of the summer! How does one accomplish such tasks and still clean the house, do laundry, pay bills, chauffeur kids around, and make meals? I am baffled! I wasn't born with the mechanism to organize and carry out plans! Ugh!

Well, sorry for the whining! I mostly want to journal this so I can look back and remember what made me loose my sanity!

If anyone knows how to potty train or teach a blind kid how to chew...please feel free to give me some pointers!

Spring Break= more Prozac!

Spring break is over-yahoo! Not that I don't love my kids, because I adore them...however, they drove me crazy! It snowed the whole time, so they couldn't go outside. Instead they stayed inside all cooped up and fighting! There were lots of groundings, yelling matches, chore assignments, and near beatings! We were all sick to boot! To make matters worse I am trying to diet and I am not a nice hungry mom! The good news is...we all survived it!


Since I have been lazy about blogging, I have missed posting Christian's 10th birthday! He had such a good time. He is our sweet boy! We love him! We had a birthday party at Blast Off. I can't believe I am the mother of a 10 year old. It is crazy! Time flies fast! He also had his Pinewood Derby which was cute he won the best headlights award. I missed it because Averi wasn't feeling well. James did such a good job at helping Christian make his car, it was sweet. He is such a good dad! Christian is such a good Son!






Last weekend we went bowling in Blackfoot for my niece Emily's birthday. It was so fun! Emily is so cute, she turned 3. She wanted Taylor to spend the night for her birthday, so they had a slumber party. Jessie and Ben are awesome to let her do that. Christian spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa E.'s house. We stayed home with Averi, and it was a very peaceful night, I did miss the little stinkers though!





I need to update this blog more often so I can actually remember the funny life we lead! My favorite highlights were:


1) Christian- "Isn't it weird that the Earth is just floating in space?"
Taylor-"no it isn't"
Me-"where do you think the Earth is than?"
Taylor- "I thought it was on the ground."
Me and Christian-"you thought the Earth is sitting on a ground?"
Taylor-"yeah"
Me-"what ground?"
Taylor- "I don't know! Space ground?"
-lots of laughter-

2) I recently sat through a sacrament meeting that was interesting to say the least! To make a long story short the following phrases are now part of the Iona 6th Ward sacrament meeting lexicon:

"girls would walk by and grab my brothers genitals while he was working out"
"sexual harassment"
"grab girls butts"

Anyway, that's all I have! Just make a mental note not to mention the above phrases in church please! Just a little tip!


PEACE OUT!