Dinner is Served!

I am officially a "bad blogger" and I say this honestly because I feel guilty every time I go somewhere and forget to take my camera. Sometimes it makes it into the van with me but stays there warming in the sunshine while we go on a walk, shoot guns or play at the park. What I'm trying to say is we have had an eventful couple of days with no pictures to prove it. I throw some random one's in just to spice up the post a bit. Feel free to skip the boring dialogue and just glance at the pictures so you can leave a comment about how much my kids have grown and how cute they are.

I had to run in the house for the camera when I caught Kate outside, in front of the house, for all neighbors to view, with only undies and ladybug rubber boots on...so adorable....and those cheeks? I'd have to say irresistible. I promise we own clothes for her.

I decided Monday to start fresh and dig deep and really get some things done around the house. I stripped the sheets off two stinky beds.....does anyone out there regularly wash all the sheets in the house on a certain day? or do you work like me where you wash when stinky? because I tried the "sheet-washing day" thing and inevitably it always worked out that the night the clean sheets were put on someone barfed or peed or somehow got mud all over the crisp, clean sheets. So now I just wait until they feel grimy or smell putrid and then I make the kids strip them off and throw them in the hamper.....I wash them (with a little bleach of course to really get the gunk off) and then 15 minutes after bedtime when we realize the beds are still bare, I become Elasta-girl reaching over bunk bed railings trying to get the sheets back on just so.

Dad got this great shot when he was visiting.

Sorry, I got off track a bit.....so I stripped the sheets off two stinky beds, started a load of laundry and then somehow found myself at the computer watching the first episode of Survivor Gabon. I think I'm going to really like this season. I'm bummed though that the teams are so uneven at this point. I'm not too worried because it seems like they always throw a twist in to mix things up a bit if it gets too predictable. Any Survivor fans out there with an opinion? Well, two hours later I realized I needed to snap out of it, really get some work done, remember my goal for the day and pay attention to my sweet children.

Nothing spectacular was accomplished, however I did get all the laundry washed, dried, sorted, folded and away before my head hit the pillow, I read my scriptures, wrote in my journal, had Julie Segui over to play, made homemade pizza for dinner enjoyed a lovely Family Home Evening shooting guns. You think I'm kidding but I'm not.

Claire and Jane at their first (and last) Super Tiger Celebration where Jane was awarded with a paw print for her outstanding Character...this month was Respect!

We drove over to B and Papa's for a lesson in gun safety and target shooting. Walter and Kate hung out in the house with B and Papa while William conducted FHE. Hank thought it was really cool to actually be shooting a gun with real bullets even though the trigger was super hard to pull on the revolver. He liked the rifle better. Jane loved shooting also and actually did a pretty good job aiming and hitting the can. Claire announced she didn't want to shoot at all but I convinced her to just try one shot to see how it feels and to know she could do it. Once was enough for her. I think I scared her with all my gun safety stories and made her feel like something bad was going to happen just by seeing the guns.

It was fun helping the kids hold the gun properly and telling them how to aim, but I was surprised at how much I loved target shooting myself. I had forgotten how much I fun it was. For some reason I thought I wouldn't enjoy it much, but when I got that .22 rifle in my arms with the butt against my shoulder and my eye down the barrel, I was hooked! The kids each took their turns and then decided they'd rather watch a video in the house while William and I stayed out till the sun set and we couldn't see to aim at our targets anymore. I love living in the country!

Thank You Medlar cousins for the candy lei for Jane's Baptism!

Today William and I took the youngin's to the Health Department for immunizations. We waited like cattle in the shute for our turn to be branded. When we finally made it to a room with a nurse I almost asked for someone else because the lad was such a ditz. First she asked if Kate was 24 months old. No, she's 36 months I say. She was born in '05. Then she goes over her shot record and tells me she doesn't need any shots today because she is all caught up. I ask if she still needs her chicken pox vaccination (which I know she does because I've refused it until now) and so she looks over the record again and says, "Oh, yeah, I didn't see that, I guess she does." Right there, I almost asked her if we could get a different nurse because I wasn't sure if she was capable of getting the right shots drawn up for the right kid. Then she asks me if Hank is four. No, he's five. He was born in '03. I tell her she's starting to make me nervous and she just looks at me confused and then goes back to his shot record. Then she asks me if he got a shot on Sept 11, 07 because it says he was in but didn't get any shots. I start looking over the record and then she realizes, "Oh, I see it here, sorry I just missed it." Now, I'm really worried, but I just want to hurry it up and get out of there.

Somehow she got all the shots drawn up and made it back to the room after 20 minutes. Hank got his last MMR, Kate got her first Varicella and Walter got three routine immunizations. Kate wimpered, Walter cried and Hanks bawled! I know how he feels though.

Walter loves his saucer when there are kids to watch and entertain him.

I remember having to get shots when I was younger and I always threw the biggest fit. I can't believe my mom put up with it. Once I got myself so worked up and was sobbing with snot running down my face while my mom held me so the nurse could give me a shot. I wouldn't let her near me though and then she finally said, "Look, I haven't even touched you yet." Somehow that calmed me down enough to listen to the nurse's advice on how to make it through the shot. That was pretty tramatic for everyone involved. The other time that sticks (nice pun) out in my mind was right before Kindergarten when I had to get a booster shot in my buttocks. Too bad for the doctor and my mom that I was wearing overalls and wouldn't let them pry them off me. I remember kicking and screaming and doing everything in my power to keep those overalls pulled up. Somehow they got them down and had me face down on the table long enought to administer the injection. I wonder if my mom recalls any of this.

After our fun experience at the clinic we headed to McDonald's for Hank's hot fudge sundae reward and then to Wal-Mart for Kate's donut reward and some diapers. Wow, they really are cheaper at Wal-Mart. Of course I had to pick up some milk, yogurt, pasta, wipes, baby cereal, mouthwash, flossers and sandwich bags. $80.00 and 30 miuntes later I made it out. We had lunch at home and then I took Hank to speech at the school. Walter and I covered books with plastic in the library while we waited for Hank and I also finalized the girls' withdrawal from school with the principal. Friday will be our last day!!!

After speech we had Julie Segui over to play (her parents are in France) and we had Claire's favorite dinner of Poppy-Seed Chicken....so easy and super yummy. After supper chores were finished we drove over to B and Papa's property and took a walk through the field to the old rock house. Someday we might build our own house over there. The only trouble for now is saving up enough to pay cash for the beauty. Remember, we're out of debt and plan on staying that way. Papa saw us wandering around the field and came to give the kids a ride in the back of his pick-up. We made it home in time for scriptures, famiy prayer and bed.

I think my best accomplishments for the last two days has been having a "real" dinner on the table each night and living to blog about it (hence the title of this post).