Emergency Victim

Jamie volunteered to be our prego mama that needed a life-and-death emergency C-section for a mock code in the hospital last night right at change of shift. We had to do everything as if this were real to give us practice on doing a real scenario. This was prompted by an actual REAL scenario that happened to me a few weeks ago. Everyone needs to be able to scrub a C-section mom says, so she's in charge of getting everyone trained. I was just able to be an observer to see what to do next time. It may have been cruel to the staff, but it's so needed! Special thanks to Jamie for wearing the ICU gown (I see you!) and being the volunteer for our benefit. It was fun and great practice! Thanks mom for the priveledge of being in on it!

President's Day Vacation in Rexburg

Monday (President's Day), Gary took the day off with us and we played! We heard Danielle and Jason were in town so we showed up to Mike's house to breakfast. Most were still in bed, but they got up and eventually fed us! :) We had the famous "Ablieskevers" sometimes slaughtered in America, calling them "Puff Pancakes." After a non-appreciative look from Mike, this is a bad name for them. But it does describe them. They are a lot like cake donut holes without the frosting. You can put jam, applesauce, powdered sugar, fruit, etc on them and eat them up. They are cooked in a cool looking pan (which I've included in the following illustrations) that is very heavy and very expensive. Mike went to Denmark on his mission, where he was first introduced to many foods, as are most missionaries. But we do appreciate this one, especially!

Marissa and the boys went out to play in the snow and remodel the snow tunnel/fort that Trevor and Tyler made days before. They stayed out there so long that I had to make sure they were ok, and I got a few snapshots before they came in. It was getting close to lunchtime and we opted to go to Big Judd's to show Jason just how big Idaho burgers can get. (He is also a native to California!) There was a long wait with limited seating, so being the resourceful people that they are, they figured out a way to make more seating! (Ha, ha!)

After Big Judds, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house down the road. Grandma was the gracious entertainer of the boys. She played slapjack with them, gave them chocolate chips in their dump truck, and played "doggies" wih them (feeding them chips "whenever they whined" as instructed by Campbell!) I visited the "working men" downstairs as they are working hard at getting the basement finished.

Then we borrowed the 4-wheeler and sled and I took Campbell & Hayden on a painfully slow ride around the haystack and back. Then Dawson & Campbell slid down the big hill in the front yard a few times until they were good and frozen throughout. Then we piled into the van and went home, with Grandpa standing on the porch, waving goodbye. Before we hit the corner by Russ's house, Campbell and Hayden were both fast asleep. It was quite a day. Thanks to all those who helped us make memories! :)

Scary movie night

Gary bought a new movie and we previewed it the night before. It was a little scary, but we decided we would let them see it. We popped popcorn and started the movie.

Hayden watched it pretty intently, with his arms folded, in protection, I think. Just before I took this picture, a scary loud noise made him jump, but his little arms continued to be folded. It was pretty funny.

It was a pretty good movie and scared the boys a little, but nothing that sleeping between mom and dad couldn't cure! ;)

Heart cake fest

Granted, it's a few days late, but I finally got around to making some individual cakes for my boys to decorate for Valentine's Day. I found some spring form pans at Target and HAD to get them. Probably because they were packaged in a set of 3, but nonetheless... I got them! I made the family "never fail chocolate cake" from scratch and after they were cooled, we set out to make them as sugary as possible. I glopped a huge scoop of frosting on top of the cakes and gave them each a spoon to use the back of to get it spread around. Then they used all the sprinkles possible and those pre-made sugar decorations for the top. Then, I had to break it to them that they couldn't eat ALL of the cake before bed, and the last picture shows Dawson's disapproval of the decision to cut it in fourths and pick only one piece to eat. Don't worry, he knew that by waking me up early (after he'd scarfed a bowl of cereal) the next morning that I would say he could have more to get him to leave me alone to my sleeping in! The funniest sight was Campbell and Hayden's faces when they were through! We had a pretty good time!

Home Improvement

We've been working on getting our basement finished. Gary has put in some lights and began a studded wall against the existing concrete/stucco wall. The boys delight in "helping" dad with this project. It's been fun to watch it evolve! Here, we just finished bringing in boards, sheetrock and insulation from the trailer outside and Dawson and Campbell are trying their hand at working together to sort the 2x4's into the two different sizes. More to come, for sure!!

Bear Buddies

This Valentine's Day, Gary had the idea to have the kids make their own stuffed animals at a new store we have in town. It's called "Bear Buddies," a lot like "Build a Bear."

They walked in, picked their animal "skin" and proceeded to the machine that stuffed them. They were able to push the pedal that blew the stuffing into it, with the help of the store assistant. Then they went to the blower that "fluffed" their animal's fur.


Then they picked from a pluthera of clothes and dressed their animal at a table and brushed its hair if needed.


Then they made up a name for their animal and signed the "birth certificate." Even Hayden got into it. Dawson's monkey is named "Little Firefighter;" Campbell's wolf is named "Freddie the Football player;" and Hayden insisted that his horse was named "Horsie."

They said they had a lot of fun and have taken very good care of their buddies since they were "born." I am recovering from my heart attack I suffered after being told the total price at the cash register! I'd highly recommend it, but be prepared with knowledge of the prices first! :)

Shoveling snow

There's NOTHING wrong with child labor, I'm told. I'd have to agree! Haha!

These boys are GREAT at helping us with things! As long as they get lots of praise and it's their idea, they will do almost anything. They love to shovel snow "like dad." They mostly like to play in the snow but I can also get some work out of them too! There's one thing that's for sure: I REFUSE to raise kids who won't work! So they are offered (and sometimes coerced) many "opportunities" to work! :)