The adventures of McKade, Tyli, and I

I feel so bad for my little buddy, McKade! I could tell he wasn't feeling well at the end of preschool on Wednesday as he was laying on the floor in the fetal position trying to sleep. I put him to bed with some medicine and he slept a couple of hours, waking up fine. I decided to bring him along to Apachie Junction HS for Cauley's first wrestling meet because he no longer had a fever and said he was great. We got to the High School and the meet started with he and Dallin playing with their cars on the bleachers, but towards the end of the JV meet, he put his cars away and knelt down between the bleachers and lay his head down where people sit their behinds on. He fell asleep within minutes! I went over to see if he was ok and he was once again burning up! Then, between the JV and Varsity meets, he woke up crying saying his ear really hurt. I got Cauley to come up and over to us and we decided I should take him in to the doctor. I left Dallin with Cauley and took my two babies to the doctor. I was so blessed that even though it was about 5 minutes after 6:00, I was the first to arrive at the Twilight Pediatrics. (By the time I finished signing in and paying my $85.00, there were no less then 12 poeple behind me!) So we got to see Dr. Carrol right away. I was told I was lucky I had come when I did, as his eardrum was almost ready to burst! Dr. Carrol said it was really pusy and crusty, which means he had it for awhile (MUCH to my surprise!). He then went on to explain that their policy this year is to try and eliminate handing out prescriptions for antibiotics because so many kids have them so often and are becoming very resistant to them later in life, but that the severity of Mckade's left ear would require a high dose of stronger antibiotics. ($36.87 worth to be exact- and that's the generic brand at Walmart!) So I took my youngest two to Walmart where I was told it would be about 45 minutes to fill the prescription. I went and got Tyli some new socks, since she doesn't have any, and McKade used them as a pillow and layed down and once again fell asleep. I pretty much walked up and down almost everry isle at Walmart before my prescription was supposed to be done. When I went to pick it up, I was informed they hadn't filled it because it ws so expensive and they "weren't sure I could pay for it!" CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!!! I started to raise my voice and said as politely as I could that I could indeed aford it, and I would do anything to help my son get better. They made me pay for it before they would fill it, which took less than 5 minutes! Then I went up to pay for everything in my cart at the cash register. Everything was fine until it came time to pay. I started handing the cashier some cash for some of the Christmas things I was purchasing (we keep that seperate so we can keep on budget) and she took it and said, "This is not enough- if you can't pay for everything, I suggest you put some things back." I was FURIOUS!! I just held up my debit card that was ready to slide to finish paying and said in a not-so-friendly voice that I was purchasing Christmas items with cash, but using my debit card for the rest. (She was quiet the rest of the time.) Since it was just before 8:00 now, we were all starving so we went next door to Wendy's. McKade said he wanted a "hangaber" and Tyli got chicken nuggets and I got a bowl of chile. McKade perked up at the food, which was nice to see a sign of life in him again, and after we ate, we made the treck home. Even though it was after their bedtimes, nobody fell asleep as we sang Christmas carols all the way home (well, just Jingle Bells about 8,00 times!). We were home only long enough for Tyli to be changed and ready for bed before Mitchell, Cauley's cousin, arrived to help give McKade a blessing. McKade was so cute, sitting all by himself in the big kitchen chair folding his arms and squinting his eyes closed! He was so patient, as it was Mitch's first time anointing. He sat so still and good! He went to bed right after and slept well and woke up so happy this morning. He is doing well and loves to drink his medicine "like Dallin" out of a medicine cup. It's funny because I was told most kids won't take this kind because it's gross, but so far, so good! Thanks for everyone's prayers!
UPDATE of WALMART: I called the manager this morning to tell them about how I was treated last night. They said that that pharmacy has lost a lot of money this year by filling and mixing prescritions, only to have parents refuse to buy them because they can't afford them so they go to waste. As for the cashier, the situation is being looked into.

Oh, Brrrrrr. I wish I had fur!

Oh, Brrrrrr! I wish I had fur! It got chilly! Ok, my family will laugh at that, but really, for me it's cold. We've been waking up to temps in the low 50's- mid 40's. and...NO HEAT! (We are just too cheap to turn it on.) Cauley says he doesn't think it's cold, but when me and the kiddos wake up, we cram on the couch in our warm pj's or sweats and slippers covered with blankets. Also, last evening we went for our usual walk and had to wear our big heavy duty coats, mittens, hats, and Tyli snuggled under her blanket. (McKade was so warm and toasty he fell asleep!) But we know it's cold when one of Dallin's first comments of the day is "Mom, do you know how COLD I got trying to sleep last night!" (He received an extra blanket on his bed tonight!) And to think- a week ago we were in the low 90's!

Go, Tyli, go, go!

Tyli scavenging for food in the kitchen.

We are greatful!

Happy Thanksgiving! In preschool this week we talked about grattitude and showing how greatful we are for everything. (To go along with Thanksgiving and all their lessons from primary on Sunday.) I started our little discussion by showing examples of what I am greatful for; like the savior, my family, a picture of all our preschool, my house, etc. I then asked each child individually what they were greatful for. As they told me, I wrote their responses on feathers which we later added to our "Grattitude Turkey" (which I made yesterday with help from my kiddos). We also made books of grattitude which each student took home to share with their families and extended families. 4 year olds sure have imaginations! Here are the responses I got from the kids which are written on the feathers that you probably can't read: (Hunter) aligators, radios, numbers, watermelon, parents, (Emily) cats and dogs, playing with her sisters, whales, her dad watching football, dolphins, (Dallin) church, socks, backpacks, trucks, shoes, days, candy, ABC's, football, (Lexie) brownies, family, wrapping paper, flowers, gardens with butterflies, Tyli, chocolate, presants, (McKade) a rain, pigs, and another aligator. I love my preschoolers!

Another win, another week (or two)

Last night Higley defeated Buckeye 53-7 and advanced into the next round of playoff games. Because of Thanksgiving, there are no games next week so Higley will play Notre Dame Prep the following week at a neuteral site. We actually had a lot of fun going to the game, during, and then coming home. Buckeye is a little over an hour away so we crammed myself, Stephanie (my sister-in-law), Parker (my nephew), Kathy (mother-in-law), and my 3 kiddos into my van for the haul across the valley. Not a big deal you say, that is also including the fact that there were 3 car seats, 1 booster, and a very pregnant lady! (Steph isn't real big, but it's fun to throw it into the mix!) Stephanie and I had fun chatting away in the front, while Kathy sat in the back trying her very best to keep the kids under control. I was laughing because somehow Parker was able to get his foot up high enough to kick Dallin in the head! He isn't used to sitting by anyone in the back yet because he is the firstborn and his little brother, Bryce, won't be here until the end of January. Tyli was both hungry and crabby on the way to Buckeye, which didn't help, but everyone was happy once we stopped for dinner at Sonic. We had many adventures which I won't bore you people with, but I will just say I am very tired and my throat hurts this morning from yelling at the game last night!

Happy Birthday, November pople!

This month is such a special one, it's birthday time for (a LOT of) you! There are so many birthdays this month that I was afraid I would miss some of you so I decided to say Happy Birthday to all at once. (You'll all still get a phone call though.) First of all, Ryan, my brother-in-law who lives in Georgia had a birthday on the 2nd of this month. Then there was my sweet little Emily from my preschool class on the 6th, followed by Aunt LaRee, (One of Cauley's many beautiful aunts), who celebrated her birthday on the 13th. Hayden, Cauley's cousin, had his birthday the following day on the 14th. Today, the 15th, my nephew, Carson, turns a whopping 7 years old, and also celebrating today is one of my best friends ever, Mrs. Jet Watson! (OK, so add a few more years to her age.) Tomorrow is the 16th, and also my sister-in-law, Jennifer's birthday. Topped off on Saturday by a friend in ward who is also serving in the Elder's Quorum with Cauley is Tim Hirst. (He's from Burley, Idaho.) I know that I've missed some of you, and I also know that my cousin, Laura, will be induced on the 20th of this month with her 3rd baby and that Cauley's cousin, Melissa, is getting closer to her due date with her 4th child, so let me know who I missed and I will add your birthday to the calendar! As for now, Happy Birthday, Ryan, Emily, Aunt LaRee, Hayden, Carson, Jet, and Jenn!

Tag- Jami Info.

Tag- I'm it. Here is a sneak peak into my world.
1. What time is it? 8:01 a.m.
2. What's your full name? Jami Ruth Clark
3. What are you most afraid of? Something bad happening to Cauley or one of my kids.
4. What is the most recent movie that you have seen in a theater? I think it was called Stardust
5. Place of birth? Pocatello, Idaho
6. Favorite food? I don't know that I have a real favorite, but I really love and look forward to Thanksgiving dinner- I love everything we have!
7. What's your natural hair color? I have never changed or highlighted, so what you see is what I am! (Dark brown with some red highlights.)
8. Ever been to Alaska ? No
9. Ever been toilet paper rolling? um, yes. (against my will, right, Jeni?)
10. Love someone so much it made you cry? Yes
11. Been in a car accident? Several- my sister had a bunch in high school with me as the passenger, once when I was driving in high school, and then the most recent because of a contraction I was having when I was in labor with Tyli.
12. Croutons or bacon bits? Croutons
13. Favorite day of the week? Anyday Cauley is home or has a day off!
14. Favorite restaurant? Buddy's (a very small Italian restaurant in Pocatello, Idaho.)
15. Favorite flower? Tulip- I love everything they represent and their simplicity.
16. Favorite sport to watch? In high school, I wouldn't have hesitated- BASEBALL. Now, I love watching whichever sport Cauley is coaching, but I still love football and baseball.
17. Favorite drink? Pop water- it's the Walmart brand carbonated water that comes in several flavors. (No calories, nocarbs, no sugar, no fat, no caffiene, and sodium free!)
18. Favorite ice cream? Cold Stone Creamery birthday cake with brownies
19. Disney or Warner Brothers? Disney
20. Ever been on a ship? No- just a boat to go fishing in a lake with or water skiing.
21. What color is your bedroom carpet? Beige
22. Before this one, from whom did you get your last e-mail? My sister, Jeni
23. What do you do when you are bored? Work on preschool stuff, clean, read the Ensign, and at night i just take a bath!
24. What is your bedtime? Right after the evening news-10:30.
25. Favorite TV show? The Office -it really cracks me up!
26. Last person you went to dinner with? Cauley took us all to McDonalds yesterday for lunch and ice cream cones. We don't get to eat out much, so McD's is a real treat to my kids!
27. What is your favorite vacation spot? We always only go to Idaho to visit my family. I do love to get away up to Prescott to visit Cauley's Aunt, but we don't do that often at all.
28. What are your favorite colors? Navy and purple
29. How many pets do you have? 6 fish and one big orange snail named cheesey.
30. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? chicken
31. What do you want to do before you die? Raise a happy and healthy family
32. Have you ever been to Hawaii ? No, although I really want to. Cauley doesn't have so much of my desire because he's been there twice.
33. Have you been to countries outside the U.S. ? Does over the border of Mexico count?
34. How many people are you tagging to do this? EVERYONE who reads my blog! (including you, Cauley!
35. Type the first word that comes to mind to describe yourself. kids- noisey

Our First Sacrament Meeting

Today marks a very important day in the Clark Family. This is the first time since before I was pregnant with Tyli that the entire Cauley Clark family was able to sit through a whole Sacrament meeting! This may seem silly, but between McKade and his wrestlesness when he was younger, me and my throwing up during pregnancy (the entire time), and then Tyli being born and then having Sacrament during feeding time for Tyli, this had yet to be accomplished- until today! Yes, Tyli is at the stage where she wants to crawl around and socialize with everyone, but the feeding during sacrament is over. Today I let her stand and socialize with the cute little girl behind us that just got baptized yesterday, (I think Tyli liked the sparkles on her dress) and then cauley helped occupy her time when I was almost at my breaking point. Cauley makes cool little airplane things out of the bulletin to keep the boys busy, and is a big help whenever needed. The hardest part is usually the Sacrament itself. Our Sacrament isn't passed out in the foyer so if Tyli or someone else is screaming, I have to stand in the back and just let them scream to partake. Today we made it through with flying colors. I just wonder when Tyli is going to become interested in the bread and the water. That ought to be another adventure!

Higley moves on

Well, another win, another week. It is playoff time, and Higley ended the season as the 7th seed going into playoffs. (They only had 2 losses on the season, but the powerpoint system put them behind.) Friday night Higley took on Mohave at Higley and came out victorious winning 34-14. (I didn't think we played real fabulous, but we won!) Even though I am getting tired of this football season, I love to go to the games and cheer for the Knights along with everyone else. Stephanie, Brad, Parker, Kathy, and me and the kids can really get into the game, and Tyli really likes to shake her pom poms! So this week Higley travels to Buckeye to prove to the state of Arizona that they deserved far better than 7th!

She did it!

Tyli FINALY slept through the night last night! She has been getting up every 20 minutes/hour for at least the past week and a half. I know her molars were hurting her, but even with Tylenol and Motrin, she would wake up. Last night she actually slept from 8:00- 5:30! (which is what time ALL my babies are up at until they are at least a year old.) I am so proud of her. It only took 1 night of letting her cry it out for 3 hours- and she just cried-no screaming! CONRATS, Ty and Jami!

Dallin

Dallin McCauley Clark came into our family on Monday, June 23rd, 2003. What a blessing he is! Dallin is a very helpful guy- running around and helping me around the house and with his brother and sister. (He does NOT like to clean though, and seems to "hurt" his foot or finger everytime the words clean up are meantioned.) Dallin is and has always been very smart! Right now he is in my preschool (along with 3 others his age) and is by far at the top of his class! We haven't even made it through half the alphabet and yet he has figured out he can spell words. He is constantly asking us to say a word for him to sound out and spell! He can also write every letter and number and enjoys making plates for people during his quiet time activities. (He takes my paper plates and markers and draws someone's face and then writes their name on the back.) He has started doing simple addition, which means he might be lucky enough to have gotten some of his dad's math genious genes. Dallin loves school, and drives me crazy about it almost all the time. His favorite color changes all the time, but right now it is silver. Dallin also loves to play outside! He likes to ride his bike and is almost ready to take off his training wheels! He loves to go for walks or just play in the sandbox. He likes every sport his dad coaches, and so right now his favorite pasttime is to throw a football into the air and catch it-which he's really good at. (He throws a perfect spiral straight up and then back down. Once he catches it, he runs so people won't "tackle" him.) Since it's Cauley's wrestling season, I'm sure he and McKade will begin wrestling a lot more. Dallin likes to sing, and can memorize the words to music really fast. He sings along to my Hilary Weeks CD I have in the car right now, but has asked that we put in a new one, as he is tired of "He Hears Me." One of my favorite things about Dallin is that he loves to share his testimony with everyone. He calls rendom people and bears his testimony all the time. I have to keep the phone away from him if I am taking a shower or a nap because he just dials and then bears his testimony. Almost every fast Sunday he bears his testimony and has only gotten nervous once, as he didn't think about what he was going to say first. The funny part is, Dallin is one of my shyest kids! He doesn't ever talk to strangers in public like McKade does. He gets emberassed when people ask him questions. The exception to this is older men. Dallin idolizes older men. He follows the around, wants to sit on their laps or right next to them, and will do almost anything the men do! Dallin is also one of my most cuddly kids. He loves to sit on my lap and just have me hold him and to be told that I love him and how wonderful he is. He also gets sad at odd times for no reason. Dallin is a fish! This past summer his Aunt Jennifer taught him how to swim and he can jump in and swim to the other side of the pool! He used to be scared of water, but he asks to go swimming all the time- even now that swimming season is officially over! Dallin loves all of his cousins and misses them all very much! he talks about them all the time- whether it's Colton, Carson, and Brooklynn in Idaho or Brent and Mike in Georgia, he loves all of his cousins. He doesn't ever want to go to a family function if Parker (and soon to be Bryce) aren't going to be there, so sometimes I am a bad mom and tell him that I think they will be, even though they won't. One of Dallin's favorite "foods" is ketchup. He takes after his Grandma Kathy on this. He eats ketchup on EVERYTHING! He won't eat greenbeans or brocoli without it, and anything that is meat or potato pretty much has to be smothered in the red goop to go into his mouth. He won't eat ranch or mayo or sour cream like his dad, but ketchup is a must! Dallin loves transformers. His fish's name is Bonecrusher, and that's what he asked for for Christmas is more transformers. Dallin also loves to play Cauley's playstation II. Whenever Cauley is home, Dallin is begging to play video games. He's pretty good at it, and teaches me how to play every once in a while! Dallin is the cutest, sweetest Dallin that I've ever met! (I tell him that he's my favorite Dallin in the whole wide world all the time- and I mean it!)

McKade

McKade Scott Clark, (aka. Kado), was born August 23rd, 2005. He is constanly making us laugh with his silly faces and quirky attitude. The best way to describe McKade is that he loves anything his older brother Dallin loves. He also likes to do whatever it is Dallin is doing. (That's the reason we have a lot of toys in groups of 2!) McKade's favorite toys are cars or trucks. He likes trains, airplanes, balls (but they have to be authentic!), and his favorite is his stuffed dog my Aunt Dorothy got him that he has named Bart. (My brother has a hairy Chiwawa named Bart.) Bart has to do everything that McKade does. McKade is a man's man. He likes the male species, especially if their name is Dad, Grandpa, or Uncle Jeff. If he's ever upset, all I have to do is ask if he wants to call Uncle Jeff and he's somehow all better. McKade is very funny in that he takes everything literal. He thinks that any animal- stuffed, plastic, or real, is real and alive. He screams when Dallin brings out a rubber snake we have. He screams when Dallin or Tyli plays with an old rubber aligator that used to be Cauley's. He really thinks his stuffed dog, Bart, needs to eat and drink and have a diaper change. McKade loves to eat. He doesn't do it very pretty, as he stuffs his whole plate into his mouth as fast as he can and when we remind him to chew, he just swallows. It's really scary! He has always been that way. On the opposite end, when he starts getting full, he stuffs his cheeks and then gets down and goes and washes his hands- just so he can have some for later. Some of his favorite foods are pizza and pancakes. He is our pickiest eater so far, but will eat any fruit. McKade loves to be outside. He loves to "ride" his tricyle that Dallin gave him for his 2nd birthday. (It used to be Dallin's before he got a "Big Boy " bike for his 3rd birthday.) McKade doesn't pedal like normal, although he can. He does the Fred Flintstone thing and runs with his toes. He is really fast at this and almost beats me to the mailbox! McKade has another fascinating quality. He is a really good fly catcher!He chases them around then house for hours on end and once he wears out the fly, he smashes it to pieces. Then he saves the evidence in his hands to show everyone who is at home. It is gross, but funny! McKade loves to wrestle. Whenever Dallin and McKade are wrapped up on the ground together, it was probably because McKade instigated it. I used to get mad at Dallin for it, but it is really Kado's doing! He also loves to play rough. On the opposite end, McKade is one of the kindest, most gentle and helpful little 2 yearold I have ever met. We love you, McKade!

Tyli

Tyli K. Clark (aka. Ty Ty, or just Ty,) joined our family the day after Christmas; December 26th, 2006. She is currently 10 months old and one of the biggest drama queens we have ever met! Tyli was blessed with lots of teeth at an early age so she can eat almost anything. Right now, she is working on her molars and another eye tooth. (She already has 9 teeth!) This works well for her because, like her brothers, she loves to eat! If she sees anybody eating, she thinks she gets to indulge too. Her favorite foods are bananas, chicken noodle, beans and rice mixed together, hotdogs and yogurt. She gets mad if you don't share. Tyli loves to get down and go! Although she is just starting to figure out how to crawl on her hands and knees, she much prefers to army crawl. She is very fast at it too- just ask her Grandma Kathy! Tyli loves to sneak around a corner and play peek-a-boo with people. Tyli loves her brothers very much, except when they won't leave her alone. She loves to be outside, and we think she likes football as she sees a field and automatically does the signal for touchdown! Tyli loves to talk and can repeat a lot of words we say to her. She likes to say ball, mama, da (we think for Dallin), dada, yaya (for yes) and her new word is "this". Although her vocabulary is coming along, she still likes to scream her ear splitting scream for no or just to get attention. She no longer likes her hair to look pretty as she will pull her ponytail out and eat any clip that may have been forced into her hair. I think she's going for the "just out of bed look." We are currently working on her nighttime sleeping habbits, which are horrible! One thing that's funny about her is that when she sleeps, she has always loved to have a blanket covering her face. I guess having RSV at 7 weeks old made her love that suffocating feeling! Tyli loves to give loves and especially likes to give (wet) kisses! She also likes to be told how beautiful she is!

Get well, Kathy!

My mother-in-law, Kathy, had surgery on Halloween to remove a parathyroid. (Spelling?) Something was causing problems so it had to be removed. I don't know many details about this, but I do know that she is home and doing well. We are headed over to see her this afternoon and take her some of her favorite breakfast foods; brownies. Hopefully they will get her feeling better. Get well, Kathy! We love you!

Goodby October!

I am so glad that October is finally over! It was probably the hardest month I have had in a very long time.
My nephew, Brent, turned 3 (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRENT!!) on Oct. 2.
Then there was fall break, which wasn't fall break for me and my preschool since the school district we live in didn't have our fall break until the following week. It was still fun, but kinda intimidating teaching 5 little kids while Cauley sat on the couch watching and "critiqing" everything. (I made some lame excuse and sent him to Walmart the second day so he didn't get to stay the whole time.) Cauley took Dallin to practice a few times which made Dallin feel like he was "5." (Or so he likes to say.)
I also had one of our quarterly enrichments on the 26th which is basically my calling. (The person over me has me do most of the work so she doesn't get stressed out, and then she just stresses out over conducting the enrichment- that's the way she puts it.) That went awesome- we had a huge turnout and everyone had a fabulouse time. Our theme was "Sneak Preview" and we did a movie theme. Coming through the front door, everyone "walked the Red Carpet", I had written names of every sister in our ward on a star which was taped to a tile on Sister Meadow's kitchen floor so everyone could find the name among all the stars, we even had a silent black and white movie put to old piano music of every sister (except for 11 which we could never catch) that we watched on a big white sheet that was set up on the patio. Everyone's favorite was the popcorn machine which made us all eat popcorn all night!The whole reason for the night was to introduce all of our upcoming mini enrichments that will be happening for the next 7 weeks in place of our Super Saterday. We have 15 projects that the sisters get to choose from- from FHE boards and baby bows to chocolates and homemade liquid soap. It will be fun, but more work.
Cauley finished his season this month and decided to have his banquet right away as wrestling practice began on the 29th. Coach Adams hosted it at his house because he has 3 acres of land (with horses, chickens, dogs, and lots of scorpions!). It was a lot of fun! We had barbequed hamburgers and hot dogs with his mom's homemade chile, which was really good. The whole evening was a blast. McKade got his wish and got to "ride horse" before eveyone got there. Dallin and Tyli followed which made for all 3 of them's first time on a horse. Pictures will follow.
One of the finales of October was the Spooktacular Event here in our neighborhood. Our HOA (home owner's association) puts it on as a thank you to everyone in the neighborhood. It's free with food, games, a spookalley, and more. Somehow, I got put in charge of all the food. (I really thought I was volunteering to help out with a ward party, which would have been no big deal!) Being in charge of the food means planning and distributing hotdogs, popcorn, cotton candy, nachos, and drinks for 3,000+ people. It wasn't too bad, just all the running around for 2 months got old fast. Stephanie and my mother-in-law, Kathy, really helped out by helping with the kids the day of so I could go pick up last minute stuff like buns and chips from Costco, ice, and water. Talk about funny looks and off the wall comments from bystanders at Costco- can you imagine- seeing someone come up front and pay for 1,500 bags (literally) of tortilla chips along with 3,00 hot dog buns! Everyone wanted to know where the party was. The most challenging part about this whole ordeal was finding people to step up and volunteer to work the booths and pass out food. A BIG THANK YOU to Aunt Jeni and Uncle Ray for helping with the popcorn booth!!! (You saved me!) It was even more difficult that night as more than half my volunteers didn't show up, and when the DJ kept asking for volunteers, I had only 2 people all night step up to help. (We shut the nacho booths down early because of this, leaving only 2 cans of cheese unused.) It did go really well, but I was tired and so sore. I was told I probably ran at least 3 miles that night as my hot dogs and water were on one side of all the game booths and all the concessions were on the other, so i had to keep circling just to make sure everyone was doing all right. I know I made at least 7 circles an hour for 4 hours, sometimes running between the game booths to solve a problem. I am just glad that I have already determined NOT to do this again next year even though I have already been asked to oversee the whole thing next year. IT's OVER!
Of course, who could end October without Halloween? I had my preschool Halloween party 2 days after the spooktacular, which was another mistake. (I spent all of the day after the spooktacular returning things like popcorn and cotton candy machines, leftover buns and chips, the Chic-fil-A wheel, etc.) I got to prepare for the preschool party starting at 8:30 the night before. I had invited all younger siblings and parents to come, which I won't do next year. The kids all had a blast, which was the only thing that mattered, and the parents had only great reviews, so I guess it went all right. The most intimidating part was that Emily's grandma came, as she was visiting from Utah. (She is the one who pays for emily's preschool.) Anyways, she was telling me what a wonderful job I did at the end when she meantioned that she taught preschool her whole life. (She retired last year because she feels too old to be around preschoolers all the time now.) Even though I was very intimidated by that, I was greatful for her encouragement and kind words about how everything was going.
Cauley got home after 6:15 that night and ate his pizza qickly enough that we were out the door a little before 7:00. We got tons of candy and only had to walk a little bit to find it. I was annoyed at all the teenagers out. (Mostly all teenagers and not many of them were even dressed up! The kids had a blast! dallin wore a vampire costume that Kathy had made for Cauley when Cauley was about 6.(It is kinda faded a dark grey now, but used to be black.) McKade refused to put on the bandana and eye patch and vest for his pirate costume, so I talked him into being a frog which we have a coat that he wore for. Tyli looked adorable (of course) as she was a fairy. (My friend jenn gave me her costume.) I even put makeup on her. Nobody really saw her as she stayed in the stroller all night. All in all, it was fun.
My goal for November is to get Tyli to sleep through the night. Right now she is up pretty much all the time, so pray for me- and her.

My Blog

Ok- so my family already has a blog, but Cauley does it all, and well, even though he does a great job, it isn't me. There are so many things I want to share without sending everyone a boring email that they will probably delete anyways, so I decided to do things by blog. That way, if you don't care what's happening or what has happenend recently, don't check my blog! This is my personal space that I get to have for myself- no kids crying - we'll call it my oasis in my bedroom. (My computer is in our room.) So here I put my disclaimer, as I will probably post things the way they are to me: This is like a journal, which I believe should be shared. (What's the point in writing things down if nobody reads them?) They are my true feelings and thoughts. If I offend anyone, I am sorry. If I don't credit anyone, I am sorry. And for Stephanie who says I say sorry for everything- even if I shouldn't, I am sorry.