Recent Events

I do love digital cameras, but sometimes they encourage people to take photos that are much too candid! We tried to get a decent photo of the family on this bench. This is the best one of Seth. It is also more accurate as to what the family looks and acts like. :) We were missing Jacob, as he was home with the flu. So, you are all my witnesses that I will go and have a family picture taken while we all still have semi-matching clothes that fit!!!! (Remind me, ok?)

This is Caleb and his cousin Jonathan making faces for me.

Waiting for Uncle Paul and Aunt Nelda to have their photos taken at the Salt Lake Temple.

Ethan celebrated his 5th birthday the same weekend as the wedding. He is taller than Miriam and most of her buddies. He loves to be outside and provides a great deal of comic relief for our family. We Love, Love you Buddy!

Ducks

We took the kids to the outdoor pool for the first time this year. We had fun swimming, and on our way home, stopped to watch a family of ducks. It was a momma with five babies, splashing in a gutter puddle. The kids were excited. As we watched, one of the ducks bolted the opposite direction and Ethan yells from the back seat, "He is getting away! Smoosh him, Dad!" :) (Glad for the insight into Ethans code of ethics where ducks are concerned.)

Adventures in hair gel, and other goopy moments.

Yesterday, I watched a movie with an uptight leading lady, and feeling some anxiety about being a control freak myself, had to retire to my room for a time, until the guilt subsided. I was there for about 15 min, when Seth came to show me that he had yucky hands. I washed them off, not sure what was on them, but thinking he had been into the soft soap, I went to investigate. I found that he had taken my pastry brush and my pastry roller, and used them to paint the piano and its bench with a thick layer of hair gel. Jacob keeps a huge jar of this stuff in the main bathroom to impress the ladies, and Seth is an opportunist. After cleaning the bathroom cabinets the floor, the carpet, Jacob's bedroom door and the piano and bench, I went to the kitchen to make dinner.

Without fanfare, I will just tell you that a few minutes later, Ethan knocked a jar of alfredo sauce off the counter, and it smashed on the floor. So, I cleaned the goopy sauce and smashed glass off of the floor, toe board and stove, then off the dustpan and sink. Another jar of sauce up from the basement and we are working on dinner once again. This time, it was my fault. I put the uncovered jar in my microwave to heat it. There was a terrific explosion, and half the sauce had lifted itself into the air and all over the top of the microwave. Gross!!!! Why is this happening to me!?! I poured what was left of the sauce over the noodles, and shut the microwave and called dinner. No one came for a while, then when they did come, they were grumping about having to help set the table. I realized that I had to clean the microwave to heat the rest of dinner, so opened it again and waded into the third slippery mess of the hour. Let us just say, that I am not always nice under these circumstances. When we finally got everyone around the table and the food on, Ethan bowed his head and prayed that mom would grow up to be a nicer mom. Sigh. I hope so too, son.

So, moral of this story, is the Lord knows I am a control freak and has given me seven children to prove to me that I can control zip. Zero. Nada. Not even my own temper, except that one he expects me to work on!!!

Uncle Paul's Reception

Paul is getting married today, but the celebrations started at a reception last evening. Our family has been looking forward to this for months now, and we were so happy to get to play!
There was dancing!

And Strawberries!

Eclairs and Cousins!

And Sunshine! Perfect! Congratulations Paul and Nelda!!

Quagmire Ahead

I am going to vent a little, or a lot. It probably won't be pretty, so brace yourself or quit reading. I will be fine when I am done, no action is required. :)

Jacob has swine flu. I don't love this. He is such a sick fellow right now! He has had a high fever and chills, aches, and some vomitting. Ugh.

Nathan is battling depression and fear. Me too. Unemployment pretty much stinks.

Paul's wedding is this week. I have been so excited for him! I hate that we are now diseased. You pretty much feel like a pariah. No one really wants you and your germs around. Ugh.

I am too tired to summon much in the way of happy feelings. Sleep and sick children are mutually exclusive.

This had better not mess with my Jacobson Reunion!!!! I get to see my family so very little.

So, Vitamin C all around, prayer, Lysol, drugs, face masks, hand washing plus sanitizer. We are going to get through this!

Seth just follows me to whine right now. I keep thinking he must be sick, but it seems to be just connected to mom. This is his new chosen mode of communication with me. I guess it is alright, I speak fluent Whine. What really makes me nuts is his need to be touching me, or on my lap, etc. while he whines. This is the POWER WHINE. Ugh.

Rats! Sigh. Bleah.

The Ice Cream Man

Leslie has just informed me that the Ice Cream Man is approaching. This event produces panic of a severe and wonderful nature, for all my children know that mommy hates the ice cream man! He might as well be the boogey man. I don't trust a vehicle, circling my neighborhood slowly, playing the most obstreperous music! I am always sure that he is casing the joint, might be a molester, or just a weirdo, or someone who might run off with my children. This is a person who makes a living taking money from children, you know. At any rate, though I do not know him/her I am prejudiced against the person behind that wheel.

My kids love this. It means that I try REALLY HARD to keep my freezer stocked with ice cream and otter pops during the ice cream man season. They know the deal is that they can have something from my stash when they hear the music coming. They have developed this crazy ritual where they all sit out front with their popsicles and wave and grin while he drives by. I am making my children nuts! Someday they will rebel and buy $2 popsicles just to show me. That will be ok. It is cheaper therapy than they will need to deal with some of my other quirks. :)

poor henery

Henry our cat isgoing to the big cat litterbox in the sky we feel so bad for him but he cant keep peeing and pooping in our house it is so discusting so my dad took him to the humain society maby he'll get adoptid but chances are low for a peeing cat i duno maby sombody wants a cat to keep ther dog in shape.

Jacob McAllister

Random Things

Seth spent an afternoon in his swim suit last week, and I discovered him in the kitchen with a knife, intently spreading peanut butter on his tummy. :) I have never tried this, but I love peanut butter for so many other things, that I am intrigued.

I have developed a new pet peeve. I hate stepping over things. This is most likely not new, just intensified of late. My three youngest boys think that summer is when you sleep in the hall under the blowing air from the swamp cooler. Ethan sleeps with a nest of about 5 blankets, one is a fat California King size comforter, another is about 5 yards of hot pink fuzzy fabric that he claimed when it came and the world relinquished it, and an assortment of crib sized blankets. Every morning I haul the pile back into his room, and every night he pulls it right back onto the floor in the hall. So, anytime late night or early morning, I have to step over Ethan and blankets, Caleb's head (he sleeps with his body in his room, head out), and Seth at the end of the hall. Seth sleeps with an assortment of toys and construction left-overs. A few lengths of trim, dad's measuring tape, this kind of thing. His nest is potentially hazardous to step over!

My basement is in step-over mode right now too. I was planning to rally the cleaning crew yesterday, but was attacked by a severe free floating anxiety complex, and so we are stepping over for one more day. (Scarlett and I both agreed to worry about it tomorrow.) Summer means stepping over in the yard, bikes parked on the sidewalk in front of the steps. Who trained these children?! I blame it on their dad. :)

Nathan actually cleaned up one of the step-overs yesterday, the wood piled on my side yard is much diminished for he stacked it neatly behind the shed. Go, Honey!

Now I am off to tackle the basement ones. If no one hears from me in a few hours, send only helpers who have long legs.

Haircut Hallelujah

Camille and Miriam have both been asking for a haircut for a couple of weeks now. So today was finally the day, and we took before and after photos. Just to get the makeover feel. So, this is Miriam BEFORE. Watch out Hollywood! :)

Camille brandishing long tresses. BEFORE.

Wow! I just love how this turned out! She felt like she was walking on air to be so pampered.

This is Miriam with our friend Sharli, at the salon. Sharli did such a nice job. Miriam talked non-stop the whole time. No surprise there. :)

Showing off the new looks. AFTER. :)

Proof of Injury

Here are my biggest, best helpers, both down a limb! Oh Man! Ugh! But they are cute.
And still helpful. Camille mastered pancake flipping with her left hand this morning.

Ketchup Blog

It has been a busy few days! And that hasn't stopped yet, so there will not be pictures until I have more time. (Right now I am blogging and browning hamburger for dinner. Multi-tasking.) We have all the children home from school for the summer! Yeah and Finally! Jacob started his job at the Webelos scout camp this morning. I am so happy to be driving him up the canyon every morning, because I can hear the water and see the trees and be happy for a few minutes before I return to the city. (Check in later this summer to see a mom tired of making the drive... we are fickle creatures.) We bought the summer toy--a trampoline. I am pretty excited, as it has taken me a long time to convince Nathan that it will be okay. So, NO BODY CAN BUST THEIR BODIES ON THIS TRAMPOLINE!!!! (Just saying.) But it is fun to have a toy with such wide age appeal. I jumped on it last night and realized that is probably the first time since I was about 16. Many things have changed since then! :)

News flash: Seth bit his tongue while jumping as I type the last bit. Popsicles have been applied. Full recovery expected.

Anyway, now I have to go, the washer is beeping for attention and my house is so yucky that I don't want to talk about it. And, yes, I will have the Relief Society reports in soon too... run, run, run!

False Alarm and Nocturnal Activity

So, everyone can join me in the Dance of Joy as Ethan and Leslie are both fine today!! The fevers seem to be a thing of the past, but I have them both home today to make sure. At any rate, it isn't swine flu to be such a pansy little virus. (Wa-Hoo!)

On other subjects, Camille (who has been having a lot of blog time lately) fell out of her bunk bed at about 3 a.m. last night and broke her right arm. We took her for x-rays this morning, but she still needs to see a specialist who will decide about casting. She is rather bummed to have to start the summer with a broken arm, but at least she doesn't face lots of yucky reports for school writing with her left hand.

I am dazed from my nocturnal care-giving activities, so later when I can find my brain, I will attempt something clever, but these are the updates, deal with it people. :)

Just one more thing...

Well, having made it through the busy-ness of the 2nd to the last week of school, we are now FINALLY on the LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL! Just a few more parties, movies, awards assemblies, talent shows, year book days left. But wait! (As one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books says) That is not all, oh, no, that is not all! We learned yesterday that a sweet girl in our neighborhood has the swine flu, and today, I have two kids down with fevers!!! Please, No! It will just be what it will be, but YUCK! Poor Leslie is ache-y and wiped out completely. Ethan has the higher fever, but he is just ORNERY! He wants to go outside and play, he wants to play with friends. What he doesn't want to do is stay around here. (I think he runs on the premise that when you feel down, friends help!) I am waiting on instructions from my doctor's office whether to take them in or keep them home. In the meantime, I'm trying to decide how to keep everyone else well, Nathan is installing trim in a home across the valley, and Jacob is supposed to start his summer job on Friday! We haven't always been the home that gets every goofy disease, but lately (the last 3 years or so) we really have been. It might have something to do with the kids being in 2 different schools just increases our chances, sheer numbers, I'm not sure what. We have had a summer disease every year we have been in this house. Chicken pox was first, last summer was hand, foot and mouth, why would I think swine flu would pass us by? Why didn't it just start here? So, we'll see, I'll keep you all posted.