Rebekah's new name is "Butch"

So this weekend has been a doozey! Rebekah BUTCHED her hair on Friday night as I was getting ready for my sister, Melanie, to come visit. I ran to try and get it fixed, but it really can't be fixed. I wish our camera wasn't broken, so you could all see it. She looks like half of her is girl, and half of her is boy. She cut it so close, that the girl who was helping (Clarissa--the same one who helped when she cut her hair a few months ago), said part of it was a #1 guard on the clippers. So it will just have to grow out and look silly for a while. It made me think of my sister's friend. Her daughter did such a job of her hair, that they buzzed it all so it could grow back. Ryan said we should stick her on a corner to beg. Oh, she looks so bad!

Catherine actually finished loosing her two front teeth. She figured out how to speak by putting her tongue on the roof of her mouth, so she doesn't have a lisp.

William is smiling, and he has two dimples-- in spite of what Ryan thinks, he does have dimples! He is the only one of my kids to have dimples. He smiles and coos and is so cute! He also loves the swing, and will sleep in it for quite a while. That also has never happened with any of my other kids. He is 3 1/2 months old now, and he's getting bored just sitting around, not being able to do anything. We will soon begin the "unpleasant times" until he is mobile.

I thought this picture of Thomas was pretty funny. He climbed up on the washing machine to take a nap! Notice the plumber crack :)

I had such a fun time with my little sister Melanie. She made a whirlwind trip to visit grandma and grandpa, and she stayed Friday night and Saturday morning with us. We got up early with the kids, chatted, and went to DI. I love being with my sisters! And her babies are just so cute. Her "littlest" guy is almost 25 lbs at 5 months. He is such a cute chunk-o, and he just smiles his chunky little smile and is so loveable! I could hardly carry him, he is soooo heavy! Melanie's husband, Merlin, came with her. I guess he was bored and had nothing better to do than play silly games with my kids. They just ate it up! Uncle Merlin is so much fun! Emma asked me why "the wizard and his familiar" were visiting. I got the "wizard" part, but she had to explain the rest. Duh! Melanie's nickname is "Mouse", and a familiar is a wizard's animal companion. Therefore, "the wizard and his familiar" are...

My very dear friend MaryRuth had her first baby! YeeHaw! I wish I could visit her in Texas.

The Yucks

For those of you that I haven't talked to since Thursday, I was sick as a dog this week! I had my very first case of mastitis. Seven kids and no problems. Then WHAMMO! I was so sick for two days, I hardly got out of bed. I finally went to the doctor and got an antibiotic on Thursday, and I feel so much better! I started feeling sick on Monday, and Tuesday was dreadful. Wednesday was worse. I thought I might have mastitis, but since I'd never experienced it before, I figured, "How bad can it be?" It was bad. Yucky. Very yucky and uncomfortable. I don't think I have ever been that sick. My sweet friend went visiting teaching by herself on Wednesday, and then came and got my kids for most of the day and into the evening. I didn't even notice that they were gone until I got up and realized it was almost their bedtime. Thank goodness for good friends who do things for you even when you tell them "No, I don't need that." Another friend told me that if you think you've got it, you need to immediately go to the doctor, or it'll be horrible, and she would have told me that if I'd have mentioned it. But like I said, I figured, "How bad can it be?" Oh well, another lesson learned. I'm not as tough as I think I am :)

It's Electric!

I was in the Dollar Tree yesterday, and I heard an old familiar song. I laughed out loud and knew it would be stuck in my head all day, which it was. I went around all day hearing "It's Electric! Boogey-woogey-woogey!" That ole' "Electric Slide". It brought back memories of Stake Dances and School dances when we would get in a line and see who could look the smoothest doing it. I was never very coordinated, but it was sure fun!

I hope you enjoy listenting to it for a few minutes, so that it can get stuck in your head, too.

Boogey-woogey-wooegy!

The correct spelling of Rebekah's name

Okay, so I DID spell Rebekah's name wrong. When I was typing it, I thought, "that doesn't look right", but I was on my way to bed and not exactly all there. That's my excuse. I did, however, remember the "h". It is spelled Rebekah. I have gone back and changed it in the dumb post. Thanks to my dear sister who ALWAYS spells her Rebecca's name wrong :) We have Rebekah Mary-Anne and a cutie cousin named Annie Rebecca. What fun!

And to clarify the Lava issue, I left Margaret and Thomas home with Ryan. That made a HUGE difference, although I did take little William (who I had to pay for whether he was going into the water or not!).

I know, I know--it's been a really long time! I've been waiting for pictures, because my favorite blogs are the ones with pictures. But our camera is on the fritz, so you'll just have to make due with the written word, complete with a lot of ramblings and no direction.

A few weeks ago, my friend Angie and I took my kids, her little boy, and a few neighbor kids to Lava Hot Springs for about 4 hours. We had a blast! I even enjoyed a few rides down the water slides. One of them gives everyone a wedgie, myself included. I sure hoped no one was looking when I tried to fix it :) I sometimes wish I didn't have responsibilities and could do that stuff by myself, because it was sure fun to just let loose (not lose my suit, though!). The other day, Ryan and I took the kids to the park, and I got to swing. There is something soothing about doing those simple things. Slides and swings--what fun! Oh, but my hips don't fit through the openings in some of the toys at the park near our house. I got stuck following Thomas once!

Back to Lava. Angie and I both got horrible sunburns on our shoulders. Mine lasted over a week before it was no longer tender to the touch. Angie's was worse than mine. I was much nicer to my girls than I was to myself, because on the last few swimming suits I made for them, I put little sleeves on. My suit, however, I made years and years ago (I so rarely wear it...), that it was before I was very comfortable making suits, and pre-sleeves, too. Oh, well. I believe I learned my lesson: I am too old to have fun!

My apricot tree is still dropping apricots. It's been thinning itself, so the apricots we are getting now are a little bit larger, although still small. It's bound to stop soon, because here in Rexburg, we are expecting snow any time now :)

Thomas has started climbing on EVERYTHING! This is a good thing, because we have been working for a long time on it. His physical therapist thinks he is doing spectacular, and we will probably stop that soon. But all of it can be frustrating. I have found him on the top bunk in his room. He has to climb up a ladder and over the railings that go all the way around the top. He has also climbed into the crib with the baby a few times. He uses stools, chairs, and the toilet seat to climb into the kitchen and bathroom sinks, where he likes to fill the sinks with water and play in it. Have I mentioned that he has also figured out how to turn the faucets on? I don't know if he can turn them off because I usually do that for him!

Our family has started a paper route in the beginning of September, and I don't know if it will last. We have to take the van, so I doubt we will be making any money off of it. However, the kids like it for the most part, and fight over who gets to run the papers. That's a little stressful at 5:00 in the morning. Rebekah even gets in on the action. She has been with us a few mornings, because she stands at the front door and cries to come. This is also hard that early in the morning. We also have to run the ads one day a week. The first week, Rebekah begged to come, so I let her. She wasn't content to sit in the car, so I let her run them down the sidewalk and drop them in the driveways while I drove next to her. It was hilarious to see a little 3 year old running down the street dropping papers! She is so cute when she's not being a stinker!

And last but not least, I started my guitar class last week. It is going to be SOOOO much fun! I have been practicing "Down in the Valley" all week long, with two different strum patterns, one of which is an arpeggio. It only has two chords, but it sounds nice so far. I'm supposed to be learning "You Are My Sunshine", too, but it has more chords and is kind of scary for me. I'll be working on that this week, I guess.

Well, that's a lot of junk to read, but I think it covers the last few weeks that I haven't posted. I hope you enjoyed reading it!