week in review

Hi everyone! Here's a fun re-cap of my week!
At the beginning of the week I had cleaned the boy's room and found a total of $.07 that Jacob had "earned" on the floor. I put it up in the windowsill (can't find the piggy bank yet) and vacuumed. Later on Kyra came running downstairs crying and saying that Jacob had swallowed a penny. When I get to the room, I find both pennies but the nickel is missing...oh joy. After calling my mom (wouldn't you?) I look under Jake's bed and low and behold there is the nickel...crisis adverted.
A day later I added 2 more kids to our chaos by inviting Laci and Garrett, Jon's niece and nephew, over for a sleep-over. We had lots of fun and still managed to keep it quiet for Jon to sleep.
Two days later I add 3 kids to our bunch by helping out some friends who had to do some errands "kid-less". We had lots of fun running through sprinklers and such. It's been hot and the kids have had lots of fun in the water. That day was also the day that Kyra learned a valuable lesson. "If it is hot or sharp, let it fall". I had just microwaved her a chicken pot pie for lunch and set it on the counter (my fault is that it was close to the edge) and she knocked it off. While trying to save me from having to clean up a mess, she tried to catch it. Needless to say, her fingers went in to the extremely hot pie and burned her pretty bad. The blister is the size of a quarter and it is puffed up a good half inch. Lots of crying and ice packs! That night, Jon and I got some quiet time and watched the movie 10,000 BC. It's actually much better than I thought it would be. It has a great story in it. I managed to stay awake the whole time...that's a big accomplishment! In the middle of the movie, Jacob comes downstairs with a peculiar powder on his PJ's. It's dark in the kitchen and I can't figure out what is on him until I walk into his room. He kept saying "cookies, bed" and I kept telling him "no cookies in bed, it's late". Well, he had "formulated" his own cookies by dumping a brand new can of baby formula, that was left in the diaper bag, all over his bed and the floor and himself, and pretty much the room...more vacuuming and a good laugh came from that situation.
Saturday was a day that Jon tried to sleep while I tried to keep kids quiet...Big failure. We ended up going grocery shopping and picking exterior paint colors for the house we live in...they trust us WAY too much!
Sunday was fun...hot and humid, I went to church while Jon slept (3 1/2 hours of pure quiet). The kids actually did better this week than previous weeks without Jon and I had sharing time...Lots of fun! It turned out great! I only had 3 kids in senior primary and about 20 in junior primary...not too bad. Later, after Jon went to work, the kids and I finished the Indiana Jones movies they started with Jon. Then we made cupcakes and they even let me take a nap! Miracles never cease! So, after a couple of cupcakes and a very big bottle of water, I'm sitting here with all the kids sleeping. Crazy I know, but when you get a nap and you're not used to it, it is sometimes hard to go back to sleep.
I hope you enjoyed my essay...sorry if it is more like rambling, I've had a long week!

what bugs me...

Summer has only just begun and the flies are bugging me. The ants are bugging me, the potato bugs are bugging me etc. We live out on a farm surrounded by fields and we have a lot of creatures that "bug" me. Inside we have been visited by many flies and ants and spiders and lots of Heavenly Father's other little creations and outside we have racoons, birds of ever size and color, stray cats, coyotes and big dump trucks that "fly" down our road spreading a thin layer of dust 20 times a day. Don't get me wrong. I love living out here! It's quiet and there is a lot of room for the kids to play safely. We are out of town which has its ups and downs, but overall, I can't complain even though I still get "bugged" .

Here are the kiddos

Ethan and his "cool shades" on 3/12/08 in the NICU.

Ethan, Megan, Kyra and Jacob...sitting still for a flash!

Seeing how we moved into an area that had poor Internet choices, these last 6 months I have not been good at e-mailing and updating people. So first of all I apologize! Here is a semi-updated photo of the kids. It was taken back in late March shortly after Ethan came home from his week-long stay at the hospital. I don't know how good it will look on your computer screens...some input would be nice.

Kyra is 6 and just finished her first year of kindergarten and her teachers were pleased with he 1st grade reading level and her math skills were high also. She loved school and was sad that it's summer vacation and that she has to wait another 9 weeks or so before going back.

Megan is 4 (5 in July) and is upset that she too has to wait 9 weeks until school starts again...after all, "kindergarten is over now and the new class should be able to start right up". Sometimes I feel the same way. She has been great to have at home though. She loves to help fold laundry and wash dishes. She also plays well with Jacob.

Jacob is 2 and a whirlwind. He is obsessed with the movie Cars and has t-shirts, shoes, toothbrushes, almost all of the characters, pillowcases, hats, books, etc. to show it too. I know it's mostly my fault that he has it all, but he's happy and it keeps him out of my hair most of the time...we still sit and watch the movie together almost every night.

Ethan was born March 8, 2008. He was 9lbs 6oz. He is a pure delight! He got to stay in the hospital 8 days longer than anticipated due to fluid in his lungs. He was taken off of feedings and put on an IV antibiotic for 7 days and then Jaundice set in and he had to be under the photo-therapy lights. Thank goodness for insurance!

Jon and I are doing well. Jon is busy with work and stuff around the house and I keep busy with the kiddos and housework. Rarely is there a dull moment at the Shaw house!

I hate moving

I hate moving. Plain and simple. In the almost 8 years that Jon and I have been married, we have moved a lot. 9 times to be exact. We have accumulated a lot of stuff in almost 8 years (not to mention 4 kids that have also accumulated a lot of stuff) and I am tired of trying to organize it. This last move has been pretty easy yet difficult at the same time. We only moved to our back yard. (We are in a duplex and moved from the front house to the back). It is bigger and the yard is great and the back patio is great and having a dishwasher is great, but having to walk back and forth to clean things up is taking a lot longer than I want it to. When we moved from Montana to Oregon we had it all boxed up and in a truck and then we cleaned and we were gone. With this move there wasn't a truck involved (unless you count Jon moving the couches, beds, dressers etc. by himself as a truck). And we didn't "pack" everything up and move. We slowly moved things over and put them away. So, our "new" house looks great! There is no clutter and everything has a place....the problem? Well, in the front house there is still tons of "crap" to quote Jon. And who gets to go through it? Yup, me! The kids try to help but they treat it like an adventure and I end up feeling like we're on an archaeology dig discovering some lost civilization when the kids squeal with excitement over the discovery of a long lost toy/book/pencil. Make sure to document everything! (inside humor). So, thankfully I have a fabulous sister-in-law who took my kids for me for a couple of hours tonight so that I could go on my own adventure through the "crap". My discoveries included: a missing work glove of Jon's, lots of socks that I thought had moved to Dryer Land, $0.83, my June issue of the Ensign and the Friend (been looking...need to do Sharing Time and Visiting Teaching), etc. I'm sure you get the drift...it's been enlightening yet discouraging. I can't believe how much "crap" we have. I guess my next project after Sharing Time and visiting teaching will be a yard sale...Oh joy! Until I post again....

Rub a dub

The kids decided to try out the tub in our new house last night. Needless to say it was a lot of fun and bubbles everywhere! I wish I could post a picture, but alas the story of my life, my computer (or I should say internet) won't let me (it's too slow). Background: we have a big jet jacuzie tub in our bathroom and I can get the older 3 kids in it with ease. It works great because with all of the splashing that goes on the kids are clean and so is everthing within a 4 foot radius of the tub. Hopefully I'll be able to edit this later and add pictures. (YAY A PICTURE!!)

Falling into peer pressure...

So, I figure I'm going to crumble into the pressures of my peers and start a blog. I think this is a good way for everyone to see our growing family and our growing projects without me having to e-mail all of the time. I'll try and post as often as I can, but with 4 littles ones, I'm making no promises! Enjoy my life's little funnies...I know I do.

Pamela