July review

As I called myself a TSM a few weeks ago, I think I'd better live up to it and summarize the month of July for posterity, instead of doing little posts about each one.
It was hot. We baked every time we went outside. We had fun while the cousins were visiting for the 4th. I'll post some pictures from that fun weekend, and anything else from July that I want to remember. Honestly, it's been a hard month and I'm looking forward to the normalcy school will bring in a few weeks.

L to R: Elise and Ali at the carnival, Trent and Seth going down the slide, Elise and Ali on the swing.

At the top of Foremaster hill, to watch the fireworks. L to R, front row: Ali, Elise, Lily, Joseph, Trent, Chase and Seth. Back row: Abby, Ethan, Sabrina and Hailey.

"All the Singles Ladies" has been playing in our house a lot lately, ever since Rachel decided she likes to groove to it. Here are some pictures of dancing in the kitchen. I wish I could have gotten one of her doing 'put your hands up!', because it's her favorite part, but she wouldn't cooperate.

Greg took the boys for a drive to see where they are building the new airport here in St George.

Chase Bank opened a new branch in Santa Clara (northeast of St George) and they had a big opening. The kids got their faces painted, ate too many cookies and got a tour of the firetruck. Elise was going to a tea party afterwards, so she is a little overdressed for the occasion.

Christie Hardy and Cami Young were in town with their families, it was so great to see them! I am very short next to Amazon Woman, as you can see. ;) I don't know why we stood in front of this boring wall and not outside by the brick. Oh yeah, because it was 110 degrees. The kids had fun running around and I loved getting to chat for a little bit.

Kids L to R: front row-Whitney H, Jackson Y and Rachel. Back - Kyle H, Reagan Y, Trent, Nate H, Seth, Ally H, Elise and Hailey.

Before they came over that day, a door at church attacked Elise while she was standing next to it. Here is the result the next day:

There you have it, a sliver of life here the last month.

Definite improvements

I am happy to report that Greg is markedly better than last Sunday. He is by no means healed, solid food still tends to hurt his throat. But he is able to almost speak normally, though at a quieter volume. We go to the doctor tomorrow and will hopefully be able to get rid of the oxygen machine. He is also going to attempt to head back to work tomorrow for a half-day. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the end is in sight.

Surgery sucks and other observations

It's been 5 days now since Greg had half his face worked on, and he's still hating it. To be exact, here is what he had done:
*tonsils, adenoids, and uvula removed
*deviated septum repaired, as well as some polyps removed
*holes drilled into his sinus' to stop his recurring sinus infections
We knew it was going to be bad from all the horror stories we'd heard, but it's still terrible to see him going through this. We would both agree though that this surgery and recovery absolutely suck and everyone should try and avoid it at all costs.
Here are some of our other observations:
*There is nothing better than Cream of Wheat with some milk and brown sugar in the morning.
*Jello and pudding are the best invention since the wheel. Especially in those little cups.
*Creamies should come in more flavors.
*It's amazing what can be conveyed with a few hand gestures, and not just using the middle finger.
*Ice from Sonic works wonders. (How do they get them so small and perfectly crunchy?)
*The sound of the oxygen tank turning on will send a dog fleeing a room to go poop next to the recliner.
*It is possible to make three trips to Walmart in one day, and the cashier to say "Weren't you just in here?" And you humbly reply that yes, you were and you are an idiot for forgetting things to make your husband feel better.
All of these were made with Greg barely able to whisper, so I may have gotten some of them wrong. Except the Walmart one, that's all me.
My loving husband has recently even taken a picture of his throat, but I will spare you. I gagged when I saw it. It's even worse than my gallbladder pictures from last year, and those were pretty gross.
All in all, it's safe to say we're housebound for at least another week, but I hope that next time I report he'll be feeling a little better. Thanks to those that have called or emailed to check on him. We really appreciate your concern.

Trent is 9

Trent's birthday was extra fun this year. His cousins Sabrina, Joseph and Ali, and his Aunt Ginger were visiting from Orem, so they got to celebrate with us all day.

I was surprised, in a very good way, that Trent slept until 7:30 that morning. It's usually up at the crack of dawn on his big day. He loved his new Transformers and his much needed clothes. (He really does like getting new clothes.) He also got a Nerf target set with two guns, so no need to ask what all the kids were running around doing all morning.

He asked for the ultra-nutritious breakfast of homemade donuts this year, so we had a lot of fun with those. The Fourth of July is the perfect day for our Trent to be born. He really is our firecracker and loves to keep all of us on our toes. He is a tenderhearted guy that loves his family and friends and we are so happy he is ours.

TSM

Total Slacker Mom. That is my new title, and I will try and revel in it for a few moments before the guilt sinks in.

Just ignore the old lady

I realized that my last post sounded very negative, and I regret that. It had been a very long day. My next one will be upbeat and cheery! :)

Summertime is robbing me of my sanity

I have been neglecting the blog, and I wish it was for a really cool reason, but there's not. It's summertime and I feel like my brain has melted here in the desert, so I'll use that excuse.
Here is what we've been doing:
We try to be out of the house by 10 am, (so we can be back by noon), otherwise we're inside for the day. It is usually at least 90 degrees by then, so at least twice a week we head to one of several nearby splash pads and the kids get wet. At least the older three do, Seth and Rachel totally freak out if they get wet. I wish I could have recorded them when a kid sat down on a small jet of water and it sprayed the three of us. You would have thought they'd both been tortured, they were screaming so loud! I swear the whole park was staring at us, so I suppressed my giggles and got us out of there. It was an AFV moment, but no camera, darn it. I could really use the extra 10 grand. :)
If we don't go to the park we go to the library and the kids cause a scene, just by being their delightful selves. Kidding. Sort-of. There are five of them, after all. Hailey goes off to read by herself as soon as we enter and then all chaos breaks loose as the other four have to pull off every book they can reach and then they have to search the computer for a certain book, but really they just want to push the buttons. Can you tell it's been summer break for over a month now? This has a little bit of a manic tone starting to develop, don't you think? Sorry, that wasn't my intention.
I'll post some pictures from Trent's birthday and the fourth soon. I had a nice birthday, but no pictures. Who needs to see all the wrinkles I'm starting to get anyway?