Deep Thoughts by Haylee Hardy- "Getting Hurt"

     Everyone gets hurt sometimes.  I'll never forget the time I got hurt when I slipped and fell.
     I was running on the sidewalk there was dirt and I slipped.  I fell because when you slip you fall.  Nicole was the closest one to me so she helped me to line.
     When I slipped and fell I scraped my nee.  I walked with Nicole to line and she helped me a lot.  I cleaned my scrape at the classroom.
     When the scrape was cleaned I went to the office.  I got a bandade from Ms. Bowl.  And I went back to the classroom.
     Getting hurt wasn't very fun so next time I will not run on the sidewalk if there is dirt where I'm going to step.


     This time Haylee brought this to me and openly asked me to put it on the blog.  I asked, "You want me to?" and she answered with an emphatic, "YES!"  As usual, I typed it exactly how she wrote it, spelling mistakes and all.  My favorite is 'Ms. Bowl.'  Hahahaha!  I had no idea that's what she was calling Mrs. Bull!  I found it very amusing. (I've know Taci Bull for years because she used to be in our ward and was one of my YW leaders.)
     I guess since summer is here we won't be getting as many deep thoughts from Haylee, but maybe that school journal of hers will be a gold mine!

Rock Stars!

     Today was Rock Star Day at school.  So here are pictures of my little rock stars!

I crimped Natalee's and Mackenzie's hair.  Haylee woke up with perfect poofed out rock star hair (aka bed head) so I didn't use the crimper on her.  I then sprayed their hair with purple color and gold sparkles.



My Little Piranha

Look at this sweet, precious, innocent angel.  So adorable.

Now look again.  Still adorable, precious, etc.  But OUCH!

     This kid has a mouthful of teeth!  At the same age Natalee was getting her first tooth (about 10 1/2 months), Nate was getting his 7th!  He only has 6 in this picture but he has another bottom one now.  I may not have mentioned this in my blog, but Nathan has bit me (while nursing) at least twice as many times as all of the other kids combined!  Maybe even 3 times as much.  He has also bit me while not nursing. You have to watch your toes around our house.  They are like bait to this little guy.  In fact, whenever he bites me, or even sometimes when he gives me one of his huge toothy grins, I can't seem to get this picture and saying out of my head:

"I'm a Piranha"

Said, of course, with the proper Darla voice and everything.  Yep, can't get it out of my head tonight again.  I am also recommitting to weaning my little piranha.  We'll see if I actually do it this time.  I'm weak in the middle of the night when I don't feel like leaving my bed to make a bottle for him.  "I'm a piranha."  Aarrggh!

Thoughts on Friendship

     My kids have often faked horror when they find out that I put some of their school work or art on the blog.  But I was pretty sure that deep down they were flattered and happy that I did it.  A while ago, Haylee brought me something she wrote in school and said I could put it in the blog "if I wanted to".  I hadn't done it yet so she brought it to me again yesterday.  I knew they loved it!  So here it is:

Thoughts on Friendship

by Haylee Hardy

     My closest friend is the one I met the first day of school.  Can you keep a secret?  Okay her name is, GRACE!  We play the piano.  Me and Grace have been on an adventure to find Randi's house but we never found it.  The person in my family that is my best friend is Kelsey.  My second closest friend is Cheynne.  Cheyenne is a great friend.  She is kind, jeneros, and helpful.  She's never caused trouble with me.

I hope everyone enjoys Haylee's thoughts on friendship!  School is almost out and I will be getting Haylee's journal that she's been keeping at school.  I am looking forward to finding lots of gems in there to blog about.

I'm Welcome

I was thinking Kelsey wasn't pronouncing 'You're Welcome' the right way.  But this morning I realized she wasn't saying 'you're welcome' at all.  I thanked her for bringing a sippy cup to me while I was doing the dishes and she said, "I'm welcome."  I said, "You're welcome?"  And she repeated, "Yeah, I'm welcome."  :)

Beauty and the Beast

     This year during Spring Break, Natalee, Haylee, Mackenzie and I went to see the play Beauty and the Beast in Hollywood at the Pantages Theater.  It was so fun!  Our seats were pretty high up so that we didn't have to pay quite as much for the tickets.  It was really neat to do this with my girls.  Kelsey was too young to join us but I think it would have been too hard for her to sit still anyway.

     We went to Mike and Cindy's before the show and Daren, Kelsey, and Nathan stayed and played with Mike, Joshua, and Jacob.  My mom, Grandma Poetschlag, me and my girls, and Cindy and her girls all went to the play.  For the most part, it was the very similar to the movie.  There were a few different songs.  But my favorite change was the scene in the pub when they sing 'Gaston' after Belle rejects his marriage proposal.  They do this dance scene with beer mugs where they are holding one mug in each hand and clanking the mugs on either side, high, low, middle, etc.  They do it very fast and while dancing around and it is so cool!  It was definitely my favorite part.

     The show started at 7:00p.m. so it was pretty late for the kids.  Poor Audrey fell asleep.  But I'm so glad we did it.  It was a neat thing to do with my girls and extra fun to do it with other girls in the family.

We took some pictures before we left.

Kelsey wanted to get into the pictures too.  It was hard to leave her behind but I knew she was too young (and it was a rule).

All the cousins going to the show.

Cindy, Allyson, and Audrey

 It was very crowded!

      We took more pictures during the intermission.  I realized when I was uploading these that I didn't have any pictures of Grandma Poetschlag.  We weren't allowed to take any pictures inside the theater so we took the following pictures in the hallway.  Grandma Poetschlag didn't come out with us for intermission so sadly, we didn't get any pictures of her.  Unfortunately, we didn't think about taking any before the show.  We were kind of worried about being on time because it was very rainy and so it took us longer to get their than we had expected.  We shouldn't have worried.  They started 20 or 25 minutes late!  I guess a lot of people were slowed down by the rain.

Grandma and granddaughters

Walking With a Walker

     Nathan was pushing around the computer desk chair and using it like a walker this evening.  So we decided to pull out this old toy that I'm pretty sure we've had ever since Natalee was this size.  Daren set it up like a walker for him and he took off!  The girls were squealing with delight watching him zoom around the kitchen.  Then he brought it to the family room where we got some cute, cute, cute pictures.

     Walking is just around the corner.  It's interesting to be anxiously awaiting it and yet dreading it at the  exact same time.

     After walking for a bit he decided he needed to fiddle with some of the little toys that are all over this thing.  So he was trying to spin that green thing and walk at the same time.  Spinning and walking at the same time is actually pretty tricky Nathan found out.

The Biggest Loser

     Last night my mom and I went to listen to Jerry and Estella Hayes from the Biggest Loser Season 8.  Jerry was the at-home winner that season, losing 177 pounds and 47.93% of his starting weight.  It turns out they both graduated from BHS in 1963.  Jerry grew up here, and Estella's family moved here just before she started high school.  Her stepdad was in the Navy.  They are on their way to the Biggest Loser finale next week so they stopped in Ridgecrest to give a motivational talk at the request of one of their classmates.
     We had so much fun!  There wasn't a huge group, only about 50-60 people, which made it much more personal.  Jerry and Estella were mingling with people and answering questions before they started.  And their talk was very interesting.  Being a big fan of the show, it was fun to hear about some of the behind-the-scenes stuff.  Then they answered questions at the end and stayed around and signed autographs and took pictures.  They are a very sweet couple and it was such an enjoyable night.  And they both look amazing!

Jerry standing next to his 'before' poster.

Another First (Finally!)

     Nathan will be 11 months old a week from today.  So even though this is a little pathetic, you will see why I am so happy about it.  Last night, Nathan slept through the night, in his own crib!!  In case you missed that, in his own crib, all night long!!  I have been really bad about making Nate sleep in his crib because he cries a lot and he doesn't sleep for long before waking up.  That is if I can lay him down without waking him up in the first place.  But lately he's been taking some naps in the crib and actually sleeping for a couple of hours.  So when he was asleep in my arms last night, I just decided to lay him down.  And did I mention that he slept there all night!?  He didn't wake up until 6a.m. this morning.
     In case you're concerned about me getting spoiled with a good night's sleep, there's no need.  Mackenzie took care of that for me.  Mackenzie barely ever comes into our room at night, but she must have sensed the empty spot in the bed because last night was one of those rare occurrances.  It was funny because when she came in Daren said, "Mackenzie, come over to my side so you don't squish Nate."  So I said, "Nate's not in here."  Daren asked, "Where is he?"  I answered, "In the crib."  Daren just said, "Wow."
     Wow is right!  Way to go Nate!  Let's keep it up! :)

Limos and Laundry

     I had another wonderfully fun conversation with Mackenzie today.  We were on our way to pick up Natalee and Haylee from Natalee's riding lesson (Haylee stayed to watch, just for fun).

Mackenzie:  Wouldn't it be fun if we had so many seats in our car that the whole town could fit?
Me:  There are like 25,000 people in our town and they don't make cars that big.
Mackenzie:  What if we had a really big car, like the kind of car rock stars have?
Me:  You mean a bus?
Mackenzie:  No, one that has lots of doors and it's really long.
Me:  You mean a limousine.
Mackenzie:  Yes!  Would that be so big?
Me:  That would be very big.  It couldn't fit the whole town but there's a lot of space in them.
Mackenzie:  Yeah, and you could even do laundry in it!  And there could be a TV so you could watch TV while you did the laundry!
Me:  I do like to watch TV while I fold laundry.
Mackenzie:  And then you could put it in the trunk.  Do they have trunks?
Me:  Yes
Mackenzie:  Good.  Then you could put it in the trunk.

     I'm so glad to know that if I ever get to ride in a limousine I will be able to do some laundry.  The reason she thinks limos are for rock stars is because we saw one the night we went to L.A. to go see Beauty and the Beast.  We told her Hannah Montana might be in it.

Baby Steps

     I don't have a picture to prove it yet, but Nathan took 2 or 3 steps today.  He was trying to get me and I don't think he was thinking about it at first.  And then after about 2 steps he just fell towards me.  So they were a little awkward, but I'm still calling it what it is!
     Last week he stood without holding onto anything for about 10 seconds.  But then he wouldn't do it again.  My mom was watching him for me today and said he was standing by the couch and then she saw him let go for a little bit.  So he's getting there.  It won't be much longer I don't think.  And I will probably pull all my hair out or go completely gray when he does start walking.  Still, I can't help but encourage him and try to teach him.  It's so fun to see him learn new things.  And he gets so excited and giggles and claps.  All the trouble that I know lies ahead when he walks is worth it just to see his face light up and hear his laughs.
   

It's Just Protein, Right?

     Nate is at that age (10 months) where he is sticking everything in his mouth!  It is so hard to make sure that there are no tiny toys or 'choking hazards' where he can reach them.  And he is pretty talented at reaching things!
     Tonight the kids and I were in the family room and I was showing them the Mormon Message about Stephanie Nielson.  We were talking about trials and I started telling them about her experience and how she overcame such a difficult challenge. (If you've never read Nie Nie Dialogues it really puts your trials into perspective!)  Nathan was playing on the floor as I shut the laptop and was talking to the other kids.  That's when I saw it- the pinched fingers heading towards his mouth.  Mackenzie was closest to him.
     I yelled, "Mackenzie!  Nate is putting something into his mouth!  Get it from him, quickly!"
     Mackenzie is such a good big sister.  And she cares so much about her baby brother.  She quickly started to brush the object from his hands when suddenly she stopped and backed up.
     "Mackenzie, get it away from him!"
     Mackenzie just watched with a horrified look on her face as he started to put it towards his mouth again.  She did make a sound something like, "Ugh," or "Ewww."
     Daren jumped up and intervened before Nathan could choke on the object.  At this point he discovered that Nate was about to eat a beetle that had slipped into our house under the french doors.  Not just a tiny little carpet beetle either.  Daren called it a stink bug but if it was, it must have been an adolescent.  I would say it was half-way between carpet beetle and stink bug sizes.  Still a hefty amount of protein, if you ask me.

P.S.  In case I didn't make it obvious enough, Daren did get to the beetle in time and Nathan did not eat it.  He has come close in the past but I don't believe he's eaten a bug yet.  I wish I could say the same for rabbit pellets.  *sigh*

Losing Miley

     If you don't remember the adorable bunny Mackenzie got right before her surgery, you can read about it here.      Sadly, little Miley died this evening.  She was only 10 weeks old.  Daren suddenly noticed at about 5:00 p.m. that she wasn't doing well at all.  She seemed a little iffy to me the last couple of days but I didn't think much of it because it's been pretty cold.  Poor Mackenzie is so sad.  I am grateful to Miley for the happiness she brought Mackenzie before and after her surgery.  I haven't blogged about it yet but Mackenzie had a really hard time recovering from her surgery and it was very hard to force her to drink any fluids afterwards because she complained that it hurt her throat.  She got a pretty high fever too.  I know that having her little bunny to care for gave her some joy and helped her feel better when she was feeling so bad.  She did such a good job taking care of Miley.  She always checked her food and water, gave her lots of attention, and even cleaned out her cage.  I am sad to see Mackenzie broken-hearted at the loss of her bunny.  But I'm not sorry that we got Miley in the first place.  She brought lots of joy to a very sick little girl and let us see the nurturing, mothering side of Mackenzie.

Snow Day Part 2

     Since the kids didn't have to go to school because of the snow, Daren took them up to the mountains to go sledding.  As much as I love to get freezing cold and wet at the same time, I decided to stay home with Nathan and Kelsey.  (Kelsey wasn't as happy to stay with me as Nathan was!)
     Daren took a couple of pictures of the kids but I have no idea where they are at the moment.  But I did find a beautiful picture that Haylee drew about the sledding trip.

Snowy Moutian

     Apparently, Haylee didn't have the best time on the sledding trip.  She told me that she kept crashing into a bush every time she went down and she could never keep the sled from crashing.  At first, the picture looks so lovely, of all of them standing at the top of the hill.  Daren, Natalee, Haylee, and Mackenzie.  Then you zoom in and see that Haylee is saying, "I hate sledding."  Then you follow the trail from 'Top of the hill Haylee' to 'Crashed in the snow Haylee' and you see her sled in the bush and the words 'Splat me.'  I found it very amusing.  And I really love Haylee's art.

P.S.  I also really get a kick out of Daren's one giant leg and one skinny leg.

Pictures from the sledding trip:

SNOW!!!!!!!!!!

     It's very rare that we get a really good snow here in Ridgecrest, but this year we got a GREAT snow!  It started snowing January 2 and we woke up the next morning to the most beautiful snow-covered desert.  Like any good Ridgecrest snow, it was melted by the end of the day.  That's about when I noticed a bunch of people posting pictures of their homes covered in snow on Facebook.  I couldn't believe I didn't think to take a picture of our house!  Next time we get a good snow, it's the first thing I'll take a picture of.  I did take a picture of our yard and several of the surrounding desert.  I really liked the one of the cactus covered in snow.  I'm not sure you can tell it's a cactus with all that snow on it.  I also really like the one of the mountains.

Old Photo Shoot

     I got very behind on my blogging at the beginning of the year again because I was spending so much time working on my blog book.  I'm also behind on some things because I need to get the pictures of them.  For example, I forgot to bring a camera to Mackenzie's and Nate's surgeries so I took some pictures with my cell phone camera and need to get a special USB cable to be able to get them off.  Also, my mom took a bunch of pictures of Haylee's baptism that I need to get from her so I can post about that.  Hopefully those posts will be coming soon.
     So anyway, these are some pictures I took of Nathan on January 17, 2011.  He was about 6 1/2 months old.

Sunday Morning

Me:  Do you kids want some breakfast?
Kids:  Yes!
Me:  What do you want?
Kids:  Ice cream!
Me:  Not until you've had some sugar-coated cereal first!

Frosted Flakes or Cocoa Krispies anyone?

     In other Sunday news, Daren and Natalee went to Mammoth this morning.  Daren is speaking there and Natalee loves to go with him to his speaking assignments in the northern units.  Daren likes to bring her too.  Brother Robins from second ward and his mother are riding up with them.  I am singing in church again today.  This time it's well-planned so I'm not so nervous.  And it's a group of about 8 or 9 women.  We are singing 'As Sisters in Zion.'  That's about all for now.

Declaration of Love

     I would like to declare publicly to all who read my blog that I love my husband very much.  I love him deeply and passionately.  I might as well mention it to you since I made the very same declaration at the volunteer luncheon at the elementary school today and I will be making it again when I pick up my kids from school and when I attend Haylee's soccer game this evening.  Who knows how many times I will declare our love tomorrow!
     Yes, the deep love Daren and I have for each other is evidenced by our beautiful children, the fact that we still like to hold hands, and the GIANT, DARK HICKEY he left on my neck last night!  I tried wearing a mock turtleneck but realized it wasn't even completely covering the evidence and it is 97 degrees outside.  So I will cover up no more!  I LOVE DAREN!!  I may have been shy before, but soon everyone will know just how much I love him!
Love you Babe! :)

P.S.  I am plotting revenge!  I'm leaning towards a Trek meeting because he wears a tie to most of his other church meetings.

First Haircut

     Unlike his big sisters, Nate needed his first haircut much earlier.  It was pretty long in front and hanging over his ears on the sides.  So yesterday I got out the clippers.



Before

I tried to make him wear the cape but it didn't last very long before he pulled it off.

I only took off this tiny amount.  This is a dessert plate, not a dinner plate.

After!

Doesn't he look so handsome?

     If Nate was getting his hair cut, then Kelsey needed to have her hair cut too!

Before

      I was having a hard time getting a good after picture out of her.  She was just being silly. :)  You might not even be able to tell the difference.  I only took off a couple of inches because she likes to put 'Jesse braids' in her hair and I didn't want to take that away.