The little red hen

A few years ago after Dave's mom had died and his parent's house had been sold, a bunch of us (his brothers and sister & spouses) all converged on the house and cleaned it out. We had gone through practically everything and were all standing in the basement staring at the remaining crap that nobody wanted to take but we couldn't bring ourselves to toss. Jeff was volunteering stuff at everyone- We walked away with a box filled with old camera supplies, a green and red rubbermaid bin full of Christmas tree ornaments, boxes of Dave's scouting badges and misc junk, & last but not least, a wheat grinder, or so they told me. I had never seen a wheat grinder in my life and this thing was huge. And ugly. And heavy. And covered in spider webs. And did I mention, ugly? Because it was (and still is).

At the time we lived in Wyoming. The house that we just emptied was in Utah. We had a moving truck to take all of Jerry's (Dave's dad) things to Jeff's house in Denver. Since our house was on the way, we threw our junk in the truck and off they went. The wheat grinder was delivered in all its glory to our basement in Wyoming. And there it sat. When we were packing up our house in Wyoming to move to Utah I was bitter about the wheat grinder.

"Can't we just take it to the Salvation Army or something? Is it really a wheat grinder anyway? Does it even work? It's totally dirty and gross. Have you looked in it?"

Dave just kept telling me that we were going to keep it. He was sure it was a wheat grinder and he was even more sure it worked. Whatever. I think he just didn't want to make an extra trip to drop it off at the thrift store.

We moved it into a storage unit in Utah where all our household goods sat for 8 months while we built our house.

And once again, moving time came around, I took one look at that thing and the complaints started rolling...

"Can't we just take it to the Salvation Army or something? Is it really a wheat grinder anyway? Does it even work? It's totally dirty and gross. Have you looked in it?"

Actually, this time, since we were in Utah, I recommended that we take it to the D.I.

But no, we kept it and moved it in to our basement.

And there it sat.

Until this past January.

A wheat grinding expert arrived on my front porch in the form of an angel, aka: my sister-in-law Natalie's mom, named Sue. We got to talking about wheat grinders and I mentioned this gem (sarcasm to the fullest) I had in the basement. She asked if she could see it. I went downstairs, dusted it off, and brought it up. One look at it and she confirmed two things for me, 1. This eye-sore was infact, a wheat grinder and 2. It was super old and super high-quality and I was super lucky. Well then. Look at fancy me with my super nice high-quality wheat grinder.

Upon confirmation that this was in fact a wheat grinder, Dave and I pulled out some grain (rice maybe?) and threw it down the little hole. It shot back in our faces and didn't grind much of anything. I hauled it into the Bosch store for further inspection. And of course, I had people walking up to me telling me how amazing my wheat grinder is and to never give it away. Well then, don't I feel stupid now? Seriously. Nothing starts up a great conversation like a big old ugly wheat grinder- look at me making friends right and left. Forget wearing deodorant, just hauling around my ancient wheat grinder is working wonders for my social life. So I chatted with a guy, he plugged it in, fed me pizza and cinnamon rolls, and we got it working... or so I thought.

Fast forward to March- Sue had me & Nat over to her house to teach us some of her tips and tricks to whole wheat bread making. It was informative and fun. We used her wheat grinder which is old too (not quite as ancient as mine though). I then brought mine up to the house so we could take a look-see and make sure it was grinding the right consistency of flour. Before we put any type of real food into this thing, one thing was very clear- it needed a good cleaning. After a thorough inspection of the wheat grinder, I realized it had fossilized weevils under it. I kid you not. So I went to work on this thing and whipped it into shape. Sue brought out her shop vac- we scraped, scrubbed, and vaccumed. We got it looking good as new! Well wouldn't you know it, after dumping some wheat in, we realized it wasn't working properly. Sue is the biggest life saver in the world! She offered to take it to some place in Provo where they fix all kinds of gadgets and things. I can't remember it's name- The Shack or The Shed or something. Natalie... little help here... (not me Natalie, my sister-in-law- I'm not crazy)

Are you still with me here? I'm not anywhere near close to being done. And no, I don't know how it's possible for me to type this much about a wheat grinder. It just happens.

Fast forward a few more weeks. Sue got my wheat grinder back from the shop and in working condition. She reminded me (because they reminded her at the shop) about what a great machine it really is. Well good for me. Can you believe how many times I tried to give it away to the D.I.? You can't even find these things on ebay! I guess the reason it is so great is because it actually has stones in it that do the grinding hence the reason it weighs a ton and the motor doesn't help either- it's huge as well.

Anyway, so I got to thinking about this grinder and I wish I knew where Dave's mom got it and what the deal is with it? Did she buy it? Did her mom give it to her? Everything has a history and I am frusturated that I don't know its history. And so now all of you know its history from the day I came into contact with it. Don't you feel priveleged? You should.

The other day Livvy and I pulled it out and used it for the first time to make some whole wheat bread. We had a great time. Livvy loved helping me make flour. It was fun to show her the evolution of our bread. She loved it and was quite the helper filling the funnel (the funnel was an addition that came from The Shed place) with the wheat.

Are you dying to see a picture of this gigantor thing I have been ranting about? Here she is...



Livvy was overseeing the wheat grinder and making sure the funnel stayed full.



And in case you are wondering what that frightening red stuff is on her face- Taylor brought home a red stamp from school so she decided to stamp her whole body. She is doing better at not being so destructive and I just have to remind myself... baby steps... baby steps...



She was very excited about our rising bread. I had to stop her from patting it too hard, bless her little baby heart.



The final product:



I really like this bread. It's pretty light which makes it easier for the kids to eat sandwiches. If the bread is too dense, they have a hard time chewing it. They love that I make homemade bread now- we don't buy bread anymore. Yay! Hopefully I can keep this up.

Spencer- 10 months

Time really seems to be flying around here and my baby is growing up so fast!

His biggest ordeal of the month was getting tubes. It is still an on-going drama and I'm wondering if it will ever end. He wasn't acting any better days after getting the tubes in so I knew something was up and of course, at his follow-up visit, they found that one of his tubes was plugged. I had to take him back a few days later to have his ear sucked out. I was dreading it because they told me they would have to strap him down to one of those papoose boards to get the job done. I don't know what I was worried about- Spencer is the best little baby- so good and so chill. He didn't cry one bit when they strapped him in. And even when they sucked all the infection out he still didn't cry. Toward the end he started to fuss because he was sick of them holding his head. He amazes me everyday!

Because of his ears he has had a really hard time sleeping. One night I was bouncing him to sleep and he just wouldn't calm down and get comfortable. I handed him this little ball and within seconds he was sound asleep.



I feel like his look has really changed this month. He cut his 7th and 8th teeth. What a big boy! He is a total biter. He bites everything, including his mama! His hair is really coming in, especially right above his ears. It sticks up everywhere and he just looks so cute! His hair is a little wonky here because he is covered in sunblock but still, it's crazy and cute. In his hand you will see that he is holding his most favorite toy- my cell phone. Why oh why oh why do they love cell phones so much? And not just any cell phone- my current cell phone. My old cell phone just will not do. He would know. How do they know?!!!! Can't you just see Seinfeld screaming that? Yep. Pretty funny!



Spencer is the center of all the love around here. He gets played with, dragged, carried, and fed everywhere he goes. But really, I don't think he would have it any other way. He loves these kids!



Sara has a love for apples. I guess I should re-phrase that- Sara has a love for pulling apples out of the fridge, taking a bite or two, and then leaving them in hidden locations. And my little Spence, well, he has a knack for finding them. Rotten... fresh... he doesn't discriminate.



He does really good with a sippy cup and he likes spending time in his high chair chowing down. Now that he knows the joys of real food, he finds major offense if I offer him baby food. Just yesterday I emptied out my pantry of baby food and packed it in a bag to send to Aunt Nat. (Sigh) Another era of his life over.





A few days ago I was doing my thing in the kitchen and Spencer was crawling about doing his baby thing. I wasn't worried for his safety because of my super classy baby gate set up to keep him from falling down the stairs...



But when I turned around, I was quite surprised to find him making his way up the stairs. I was just working on this with him a couple days before and he did not get it at all. This kid is a fast learner. He is so determined- it kind of drives me crazy. His favorite thing to do is to empty out the basket that holds all the Wii games and accessories. As soon as I pick it up, he comes crawling right back over to set things straight with me. He also likes to crawl behind the T.V. He has also started walking with us when we hold his hands. He wasn't doing this last month so it's fun to see him learning.



Oh how we love this baby!

How to win friends and influence your children

We put the girl's bunk bed together. We bought the beds quite a while back but have kept them separate because as you may have noticed, our little Livvy is a bit of a kamikaze kid. She's getting bigger and more responsible so we thought it was time to stack em' up. They were all SO excited, running around and getting in the way. Good times.



And yes, I am ashamed to say, there is still blue tape on the ceiling from when I painted their room FOREVER ago. It's only that one corner and wall so I guess now that the bunk bed is there, I can actually reach it to take it down.

Widening the gap

(Please ignore the food all over his face- he is, after all, a little boy)

What is better than the tooth fairy coming and bringing a chunk of change and the Easter Bunny hopping in and leaving a basketful of goodies? Both of them happening on the same night!!! This very scenario happened to Taylor this weekend!!! After a couple weeks of wiggling away at his front tooth, it finally made its way out on Easter Eve- that makes five teeth that Taylor has lost. Five!

You may have noticed from previous exreme close-ups of Taylor that he had quite a gap going on between his two front teeth. For years Dave and I have laughed about and wondered how many quarters would fit between Taylor's two front teeth. With all the tooth wiggling he has been doing as of late, it has been on my mind quite a bit. Friday night it was really on my mind so out came the quarters- just exactly how many quarters can we fit between Taylor's two front teeth? The answer my friends, the answer is THREE. Three quarters. Yep. You heard me- exactly .75 cents.



And now to the Tooth Fairy. It seems that a confession may be in order. Our tooth fairy is, how do I say this? Well... a re-gifter. I know. Shame shame shame on her. Back when Taylor's first tooth came out she (and her partner in crime, Mr. Tooth Fairy) had a brilliant plan to leave a gold dollar under the pillow of each deserving, toothless child. That idea was (and still is) fantastic, except that she forgot where her stash of gold dollars went. In case you were wondering, finding a gold dollar on a dime isn't exactly a walk in the park. Fortunately for this Tooth Fairy, her most recent 6-year-old client gets so excited about his new gold coin, rather than putting it away in his piggy bank, he carries it around with him, eventually misplacing on the mantle, or in the car, or on the couch. Cha-ching! The money is usually found and put up in a place where Spencer won't eat it. And then that Tooth Fairy, in a pinch, remembers where that money was re-located and lovingly re-gifts the gold dollar to that sweet boy who has so much faith this his Tooth Fairy will in fact, deliver another gold coin under his sleepy little head. Some may call it deceitful, I prefer to call it brilliant. Popping the magic bubble of childhood floating around Taylor is most definetly not on this Tooth Fairy's agenda. Re-gifter? Can you blame her?

Okay, so it's only happened twice. And upon discussing this situation with some Tooth Fairy affiliates, who shall remain nameless, it has come to our attention a trip to a nearby Trax station just may make all my gold dollar dreams come true. Now I think about it, Trax may be where it all began anyway.

Easter

Easter weekend was craziness this year! So many things were going on. We made the best of it and enjoyed a fun Easter.

Saturday afternoon the kids dyed their Easter Eggs in preparation for the Easter Bunny.



Livvy thought it would be a good idea to snack on the vinegar dye...



The kids quickly let her know that it was not okay to eat the dye. She wasn't too happy about it.



Any guesses as to who this hand belongs to? Yeah... she kept clean until the very last egg and then bam! she was hand dipping and smearing blue everywhere.



Because my life is crazy, Easter Egg dying time turned into a multi-tasking frenzy- I helped the kids with their eggs (probably not as much as I should have), made rolls (and Spencer accidentally grabbed the hot pan with his fingers), changed diapers, and carried a sad Spenny around (not because of his fingers, just because his ears are kicking our butts). Daddy was off at a Real Soccer game. Love those season tickets...

See how good the rolls turned out? Yep. They were delish...



After that we were off to great grandma's birthday party but not before we made a stop at grandma and grandpa's house- they surprised the kids with Easter stuffed animals.



Easter Sunday the kids woke up early running around the house to find their baskets hidden by the Easter Bunny himself (or in our case, herself). Sara couldn't believe that that silly Easter Bunny hid her basket in the same place as last year... oops. Looks like our Easter Bunny needs to get a little more creative.



Taylor thought his basket was SO HARD to find hidden in the buffet in the front entryway.



Liv's basket was hidden in a corner. Taylor and Sara found it first and just couldn't resist dragging Olivia right to it.



Russ & Nat blessed Amelia on Easter Sunday. We had a fantastic Easter dinner with all the fam and lounged around at Aunt Nat's parent's house all day. It was so relaxing and fun.

Here are my kids and my love all dressed up in their fancy stuff. Taylor got a new tie. The girls are wearing hand-me-down dresses from my sister-in-law Lori. They are the dresses that I had all the little girls wearing at my wedding. I pulled them out a few days ago and thought they would be perfect for Easter! That is, hands down, the best deal I've ever gotten on Easter dresses! Ha!



When I asked the kids to talk to me about why we celebrate Easter, Taylor was quick to say, "Jesus was rex-ted... I mean, re-surr-ect-ted." Big word. Good kids. Happy Easter.

Lately...

-Taylor dragged me to his room bursting with excitement. Upon my arrival, beaming with pride he introduced me to his "pantry". Pantry, you say? Yes, pantry. He turned one of his dresser drawers into a feeding frenzy for himself, stocked full of string cheese, nutri grain bars, a can of pink lemonade, and some Easter candy. Good to see his mind is always working on ways to better his lifestyle...

-Once again Liv is using my carpet as a toilet. Just when I am noticing some progress in the potty training dept, I get summoned back to reality by a pile (or two) of poop. The other night we were sitting around watching T.V. as a family. Livvy came running up to Dave with her finger covered in the good stuff. I tell you what- nothing insights a riot like a finger loaded with poo. Kids started screaming and running for diapers and wipes, Dave cleaned up her finger and changed her diaper. Back to our T.V. viewing. Within seconds, a sniff from my nose let me know that all was not right with the world. It still smelled like poop. We couldn't find the source and Dave was sure it was just Livvy's pajama pants. We tossed those into the laundry but still, the smell did not leave. Finally, the answer to our problem came crawling across the room and pulled himself up onto my chair- his little bitty hand covered in poop, but not just any poop, Livvy's poop! Once again the riot began. Dave grabbed Spencer and hauled him over to the sink. I went in search of Livvy's pile o' poop. No wonder the smell was so strong- she had wiped her poop on the carpet right behind my chair! What is up with that child? Dave came back with Spencer and I asked him, "Did you wash his mouth out?" The answer- "No, I didn't see any on his mouth." So then I asked, "Did you smell his mouth?" I just got a dirty look in return. Good times at the Jackson house. In my years of parenting it is becoming clearer to me everyday that certain rites of passage exist, and I'm beginning to wonder if eating your siblings poop is one of them.

- Taylor is off track from school right now so I signed the kids up for swim lessons at the rec center. One day we were leaving the building and (surprise surprise) the kids were a little out of control and not listening. They were running and laughing and I kept asking them to stop. Now, before I continue, please note that the entrance to the rec center is all glass doors and windows. Sara took off in a dead run toward the front doors. A few things happened all in the same moment, 1. I realized that Sara didn't notice the glass, 2. I screamed for her to stop, 3. She slammed face first into the glass wall that was right beside the door. I don't think she has even been more stunned by anything in all her life. I ran over to her and asked her if she was okay. She shook her head yes and then burst into tears- tears that lasted for 10 whole minutes. I picked her up off the ground, scraped her 4-year-old pride from off the window, and we made our way out to the car where we were serenaded by her wailing nearly the entire way home.

-Because I deserve a break every now and then, I put a ban on dress-up clothes this week. Ahhhh....sweet bliss. I have actually been able to find the floor all week. I love it!

-The other night we went over to my grandma's house to celebrate her 87th birthday. She is having a bit of a mice problem lately. Forgetting that she has sticky traps all over her house and not paying all that much attention to where Spencer was crawling, he landed himself right into a one. His fingers were covered and the whole trap was stuck to his pants. While it was an unfortunate disaster, I am counting myself lucky that the trap didn't already have a mouse stuck to it. I would probably have to be institutionalized if it did...

-While driving in the car today Taylor was back in his seat explaining some important issues to Sara. I overheard the following words coming from Taylor's mouth, "Sara, dads are not slaves. Only moms. And sometimes dads get a day off." Exactly. For those of you who haven't felt sorry for me in the past, please feel free to start now.

Under the Knife

Well. April 1st has come and gone and my little Spencer has tubes in his ears! I have been waiting for this day for more than a month!

He was such a happy little guy going into his surgery but not such a happy little guy coming out of it. They told me that most babies have a hard time coming out of anesthesia because they don't recognize or understand what they are feeling. I think he also was upset because his ears hurt! The doctor said that his ears were as bad as he ever sees them and they will most likely continue to hurt for a couple days. He had lots of pus coming out of his middle ear. Even when he thought he had it all out, it would keep coming. (I resisted the urge to say, "Maybe if you could have fit him in a few weeks back, we wouldn't be having this problem today!!!")

He has been taking an oral antibiotic and antibiotic ear drops. He had so much drainage. It lasted for 5 days (which is not good, by the way)! It has finally stopped but he still tugs and swats at his ears a bit. I wonder if we will ever get rid of this infection. I am going crazy! The antibiotic has given him a lousy case of diarrhea which in turn, has given him some fierce fire bum. Poor kid.

Spencer looked so cute in his little hospital gown and booties. I had to get a couple pictures. They even gave him a teddy bear. He wasn't too interested in it but hey, it's the thought that counts, right?