The Finger of Blame

I got a letter in the mail from my health insurance company yesterday. Apparently they want to be 502% positive that there isn't anyone else who can pay for the care of my ankle. I got a 2 1/2 page questionare about the causation, location and responsibility of my injury.

They want to know where it happened (podunk, northern NV)
How it happened (Um, I'm a clutz)
If I was in or around a motor vehicle (um, within 20 feet- but still not the car's fault)
If expenses due to accidental injury/accident? (Actual question) I put: yes, but who would injure themselves on purpose? That's a lame question. (Actual answer).
If the injury happened while I was working? (Well, I was carrying a kid- which is part of my job)
If if happened while playing college sports... (Yeah right!!)

Basically they don't want to pay for the injury if there is anyone else they can make do it. Lovely.

Um, maybe, yes?

Annika's new way of answering questions is with a question. Maybe she's going to be a lawyer?

This morning:
"annika, did you eat your cereal?"
"um, maybe, yes?"
"annika, did you hit your sister?"
"um, maybe no?"
"then why is she crying?"
"Um, maybe yes?"

Fabulous...

It's official...

I'm the best mom ever! Annika hasn't been eating at all today and it's driving me nuts! Earlier my mom was wiping her face and she was screaming like she was in pain. But she's like that- if you're making her do something she doesn't want you to do then she'll say you're hurting her (even if you aren't hardly touching her). So I told my mom it's just annika being annika. Then I was getting her ready for bed and wiped off her face (which for not really eating sure does get messy) and she starts screaming bloody murder and saying her teeth hurt. So I look at her teeth- guess what I found? A gigantic canker sore on her bottom gum right in the center of her face. Lovely eh?

It's FALL!!

This is the best time of year in Las Vegas. It really, really is. The AC is off (most of the day) and the doors and windows are open (but screened- still seeing too many pesky flies). There is a lovely crispness in the air that will stay for the next several months. That's right- MONTHS. I love fall in Las Vegas. And Spring. The fact that we have such fabulous fall weather and such fabulous winter weather and beautiful springs make the 4 months of summer bearable. I'm willing to take the trade off. Since it's so wonderful and Steve spent Saturday cleaning (so not too much guilt) I'm spending the day baking. I've got some new recipes to try, some new cookie cutters to try, and it's fall. I need to spend some time in the kitchen. Besides, the girls all have coughs and snotty noses so I can't take them too the gym. I'll be back with pictures by tonight.

Long day! But good news. ..

So I had extra kids sleep over last night. So this morning I had two kids to get ready for school. Luckily 7 year olds get ready by themselves- they just need nagging. Then once they were out the door I got 5 kids in the car to take Megan to preschool. Then home to nap both babies. Then back 2 1/2 hours later to pick her up, then home for a rushed lunch, then out the door to take the other Megan to kindergarten, then dropped my kids + one extra off at my moms. Then I went to the foot doctor where I waited for 3 1/2 hours. (Ugg) Costco run and then I went to pick up my kids and they were all sleeping. So I crashed at my mom's for an hour- until she kicked me out since she had company coming for dinner. Then home to rush through dinner and now we're on the way out the door again since Steve has an audit tonight and I've got Bunco. The girls are going to a friend's house and steve's picking them up when he's done. Whew! So I've been gone all day- but hi! What have you been up to??

The good news? No more boot on my foot! At least as long as it feels well. If it starts to hurt then I have to put it back on for another week

In other good news? I've not taken any narcotic pain killer (or any pain killer) for more then 24 hours. Woo!! I may not be an addict after all!

Yay for the endodontist!!

I never thought I'd be so anxious to see a dentist in my life. I got an appointment for 11:00 this morning. I have never felt such sweet relief in my life as when I got that first shot of novicane. Ahhh. I've not slept the whole night through in weeks. I kept falling asleep in the dentist's chair since I could finally sleep with the pain gone. It's almost 10- so eleven hours since my appointment and I've felt no pain. None. I have feeling back in my jaw and there is no pain. YAY!! I'm so ready to go to bed and sleep all night long.

Super Saturday

Super Saturday is a day where we (women at church) get together and do lots of crafts either for our homes- or for Christmas gifts for others. I'm in charge of it this year.

Wanna see what we're making??

These are glass blocks- like you use in bathroom windows. They don't photograph well-

This one says "PEACE on earth"


JOY to the world

These are all Christmas ornaments

These are boards that you hang on your wall

Flower arrangement- you make it in the flower arranging class
Stitchery's




These next four are all the same craft. They are four blocks that have four different seasonal sayings.
Paper dolls (laminated)
Cards (super cute)
There's one more- but I forgot to take a picture- I'll post it later.

We're having four classes- cinnamon roll making, flower arranging, home organization and cleaning, and hand dipped chocolates.

We're having a brunch as well. I"m excited!

Blogger Beta and comments

Currently since I've signed up for blogger beta I can't comment on your site unless you allow non-bloggers to comment. So if you do that then I can comment. Also- you can't sign in and comment here unless you're a beta blogger- but you can sign out and then comment without signing in. Clear as mud? I miss my commenters!!

Something that made me giggle

A couple days ago Megan swallowed a chip without completely chewing it and it got stuck in her throat on the way down. We tried to get her to drink some water or drink something to help it out and finally convinced her that eating some ice cream would help.

A few minutes ago Megan came up to me and said, 'I have an owie on my head that's not bleeding. Can I have a popsicle and eat it outside to make it feel better?'

Who can resist that logic?

Just say no!

How do you know when you're an addict? I was taking pain pills for my foot. Right when we got back from our trip I went to the dentist and got 5 cavities filled. Two were quite deep. Deep and infected- but not quite infected enough to warrant a root canal. So the dentist did what's called a pulp cap- supposed to keep it from needing a root canal. Anyway- said that they'd be sensitive for a while. Well- it's been two weeks. I now can't function without taking a couple Loratab or Vicoden a day. I've also taken to squirting infant motrin or tylenol directly on the affected area (really helps btw). I went back in today. It's possible that the tooth behind the one he worked on needs a root canal, or it could be in pain because the bite was high, or it could be the ginormous canker sore. So I'm supposed to treat the canker sore, and he fixed the bite. If it doesn't get better by monday or so (not all the way- but a noticable improvement) then I get to go to a specialist for the root canal since it's my very very back molar. Joy. But yeah- I've been taking prescription pain meds daily since the first day of vacation. Not sure that's good.

Kayaking...

We borrowed a kayak from a friend of Steve's to take with us on our trip. It was a lot of fun. The girl's loved it too. Here are some pictures: (I actually went out on the kayak too- but there aren't pictures to prove it.)

Steve and Ashley:


Steve and Megan:


Steve and Annika:

The Dirt

That was the big attraction on our vacation. If we were at the campsite the girls played in the dirt:


If we were at the beach they played in the dirt:The girls favorite activity was having Steve bury them in the sand.


Cori enjoying being the 'biggest' sister for a few minutes. ..

By the time we left we were covered in dirt and everything we'd brought with us was covered in dirt. Cheap fun though right? Also- their clothes did come clean.

Good enough?

I've finally updated. I feel like I've fallen off the blogosphere- but I'm back. I'm liking the new blogger better- tons better- and I think I'm through my blogger's block. Hopefully that includes commenting on ya'lls blogs as well. I'm going to do better- I promise.

Some random pictures I've been meaning to share

Here's Cori and her two 'best friends'. The three girls are all within a couple weeks of the same age and hang out a lot. Mostly because their mom's do and stuff- but they're pretty cute together. Cori has started trying to say Sarah's name. Tonight at dinner Sarah was upset and Cori kept 'talking' to her and trying to make her feel better. You could totally tell what she was trying to convey by the tone of her voice and her gestures. Totally cute!
Megan/Minnie mouse. She put on this 12 month costume at someone else's house. ROFL. I couldn't resist the pic.
Cori and Sarah getting a bath in the sink after dinner.
Sarah was supposed to be napping. We came upstairs and Jeffery and Annika had climbed into the crib and all three of them were jumping happily. Yeah, no sleeping there!

Happy Birthday to Megan!!

We've also recently had a birthday! Megan turned 4 on September 5th. So we celebrated on Labor day with a big family/friend party. She got way more presents then any kid needs (of course) and was thrilled at every single one. I think that 4 is the best age for birthdays. They finally 'get it' but aren't so gimmie, gimmie that it's obnoxious. She was completely thrilled at every single present she opened and it was so fun!

Of course we have our tradition of the birthday pinata- Megan wanted a purple bunny- he ended up a little creepier then I was going for- but I guess it makes it easier to whack right?

Mommy and Megan with the 'scary bunny' as Megan called him.

Blowing out the candles...
Picking up the loot!
The cake.
Megan was a miracle baby. Go here to read all the details. She has such a fun little personality and really is a joy in our home. The last several months she's been maturing and growing by leaps and bounds. She's finally figured out the potty training thing (now for the night training) and talks non-stop. She says the funniest things, of course at this moment I can't think of any of them... She loves to play Barbies and dolls and Polly Pockets and her newest favorite thing is money. Grandma Pechin gave her a purse with a handful of pennies in it for her birthday and she's been carrying it everywhere. That's the best way to get her to do something currently is to offer her a penny.

She loves to play with her sisters- most of the time and is really good at making Cori laugh. Megan gives the greatest hugs and kisses and frequently just comes up and gives hugs for 'no reason'. She also is incredibly silly.

We love our Megan and treasure every moment with her. Happy Birthday Megan!!!

Preschool

Preschool also started last week. I'm once again doing preschool co-op with some other women from church who have kids Megan's age. We rotate houses and take turns being the teacher. We made up a simple curriculm- but most of it is open to whatever the teacher wants to do. We had fun- but it was crazy last week- mostly because it's the first week. We also have two more kids this year then we had last year.

Here is a video of the kids doing a parade in the backyard. Like how orderly they are?? It was hysterical though.

School has Begun!

August 28th was the first day of school. I can't tell you how excited we all are! I didn't take pictures on the first day (cause I'm the best mom ever) but here is Ashley on the second day of school:I can't believe I've got a second grader! That's crazy! Her teacher is Mrs. Bates- and I'm not so sure about her yet. I'm hoping to help out in the class room soon so I can see her in action. They watched a full length movie (Brother Bear 2) on the third day of school. That bothers me more then a little bit.

The New Beta Blogger

If you use blogger upgrade to Beta version (for free) so that I can comment on your blog. If you haven't upgraded then you can't comment on mine (and I know you wanna) and I can't comment on yours. So do it- all the cool kids are. Beside editing your template is 100 x's easier. I finally updated my blogroll. If you're on it and don't want to be shoot me a note.

A big fish story

So before we even went on our trip the girls were excited about going. If you asked them what we were going to do they said we were going fishing. I don’t know if we had made an offhand comment or what- but Megan especially was really, really excited about going fishing. So we borrowed some gear from Steve’s dad so that we could take them while we were up there. The thing is that fishing isn’t very fun. No offense to you fishermen/women out there- but really- hours on end holding a pole and rarely catching anything? Not my idea of a good time. Also you have to hold still and be quiet- which is not something that my kids excel at. But we were going to give it a shot.

So our first day in Tahoe we went fishing. Got it out of the girls systems. The great part? It took 30 minutes and all three girls caught a fish! Ashley caught the first one which was 14 inches long. Megan caught the next one that was 16 inches long. Annika caught the last one and it was 12 inches long. They were all trout. We had a good dinner that night.

The Girls Waiting to fish
The best part? We found a trout farm that would provide all the gear and the bait and let you fish there without a license (because it’s private property) and you only pay for what you catch (by the inch). So the pond was swarming with fish- and it didn’t take long for the girls to catch a fish each! But the very best part? They cleaned the fish for $.50 a piece.

The action from across the pond (There’s a fish in the net Steve is holding- it’s the one Annika just caught)

Learning the art of fishing

Megan the fisher girl
Ashley with her fish.

We took a picture of all the girls holding a fish- but the camera for some reason didn’t take it! Grr!

So there was our fishing adventure!

I'm a slacker

Sorry. I'm not blogging. I'm not sure what the issue is. I'll be playing catch-up over the next couple of days. The things I'm promising (with pictures)?

1. Our trip to Tahoe
2. Fishing (Ashley caught a 14 inch trout, Megan caught a 16 inch trout and Annika caught a 12 inch trout)
3. Our state capital
4. The second day of school (since I forgot to take pictures on the first day)
5. Megan's birthday party
6. Random fun pictures

Here's one to tide you over...
Annika kept putting grapes in her cheeks and smiling and saying 'cheese'- it was so cute. She looks like a little chipmunk though.

Gross Problem- I need help...

I've never had a housefly problem in Las Vegas before. Seriously not even enough to purchase a flyswatter. This summer hasn't been that bad- a few more then normal. But the last week and a half? It's out of control. I'm killing between 15-30 flies a day in my house! That's insane and disgusting. What the freak is going on and how do I stop it!!??

Something to remember

Taking a bath by yourself is very relaxing- when a 2 1/2 year old and a 4 year old join you? Not so much.