Sympathy Pains

I am way WAY behind on writing. Life has been full. Full of fun. Full of family. Full of activities. But it's looking like I'll have some extra down time...

My dad had surgery this past week. It wasn't another big scary one, just a small scary follow up one. At work on Friday my stomach hurt a little and I joked to my co worker that I was having sympathy pains for my dad. By the time I was loading bags on the plane I knew something was really wrong. As soon as the plane was off so was I. I limped to my car and drove to Kristi's to pick up Eli. Jase and Mason were up the canyon on a Fathers and Sons campout. I couldn't get off the couch. Something made me laugh. Laughing made me cry. Finally, I decided to go home. Kristi had to put Eli in the car for me. Driving was only bad when I had to move my foot, and since I was driving the manual Ford, it was a lot.

The rest of the evening is a blur of really bad pain, calling Jason a lot even though I knew he didn't get reception, and various people advising what to do. I packed for the hospital and then decided not to go. Mom and Lisa offered a world of help but I decided I simply wanted to go to bed. Eli got up once that night. It was really hard to take care of him.

I spy my awesome dual side traction socks.

Saturday was quite the day. I woke up and the crazy pain gone but my right side felt like I had been kicked by a horse. Jason came home early from camp out with more good news. Mason had been sick and was throwing up. I felt better but realized better wasn't good enough. Jason took care of the kids and I went to the hospital. Lisa showed up to keep me company while they ran tests. Everything looked normal so when they said hurry and get into a gown the surgeon is ready to go I was really shocked. Lisa went to the kids, Jason came to me, and I went to surgery.

According to the surgeon my appendix was 2-4 hours from bursting.

Now I'm laid up, Mason is still sick, Eli won't sleep, and Jason is taking care of all of us. I still can't stand up straight but the pain is much different. The pain meds help the pain but make me sick and I have bad headaches so I'm not taking them anymore. Family help a ton. But I can't hold any of my boys and that is probably the hardest part.

Hogle Zoo

I wanted to go somewhere fun for Mason's birthday and enjoy our flight benefits. I asked him if he'd rather go to the beach or the zoo. It was a very hard choice for him to make. I posted tons of pictures on Mason's site but wanted to add my adult perspective here. It was a fun trip but so shocking to me to see how much harder it was so fly with two kids. Jason was a champ and took both kids, the monster stroller, and himself through security while I was working. My boss lets us work a flight and then fly out on it. Cool, but I think I'll find someone to work for me next time. It had been a long time since Mason had flown, basically the first time since he could remember. Eli did really good. Next time I'll bring the iPod touch for Mace. We sat in row 11, which is the back bench. It was nice to have that extra room.

We got an awesome deal on a car for just $13 including taxes for the day. We met up with Amy for breakfast and then went to the zoo. I wanted to make sure and go to the carosel to get some pictures of me and Mason (for a fun project I've had in mind for ages, I'll post when I get around to doing it).

Here's my favorite animal picture of the day:

 Eli was cute and just enjoyed being out and about. I think we all had fun but it was really crowded and after a couple hours we decided to call it a day. We caught the early flight home, which made me smile at how wonderfully lovely it is to be able to work for an airline.

So close and yet...

Anybody want a greenhouse?
Yeah, me too.

Jason's friend offered him his awesome little greenhouse. We were so excited. It was surprisingly devastating to not get it...in one piece, that is. I'm just glad I didn't have to witness it exploding into hundreds of pieces on the freeway. Also glad no major damage to other vehicles occurred. Still bummed...

one month of nature

I love the variety of spring. These pictures were taken around the yard in April. 

 Now enough variety, bring on the nice weather.

RyRy turns 8!

My nephew Ryan turned 8! Mason is close with almost all of his cousins, and he and Ryan have a special relationship. Perhaps it's all the hand-me-downs, perhaps it's the countless hours playing together. Perhaps it's because Mason really needs an older brother and Ryan wants a little brother. Along with celebrating his birthday, we also celebrated his decision to be baptized. My camera died missed some great photo opportunities (Kris? Hook me up?). Here's the cake I made Ry and here's Mason outside the church right before the baptism (in a very typical Mason pose).

Last year for candles

After counting, placing, and then lighting 29 candles I declared it will be a family tradition to get individual candles until you are 29. Once you are 30 you just get numbers or symbolic candles.

Also, we had some technical difficulties with Jason's snowmobile scene cake. Mason was being so helpful but it reached the point fixing it would require a few more cups of frosting. And since Jase doesn't care for much frosting, I just called it quits. There won't be any close ups of the cake this year. :)

Jason had to work up on the mountain so Mason and I had a fun day of decorating and practicing singing the Birthday song. Jason picked Meatball Casserole for his birthday feast. By the time Jase got home Mason couldn't wait to give him his present. We had a lovely dinner and opened presents. Jason is smiling in those pictures but this is what was really on his mind:

His present: the DuoGriller , on order

The festivities

The Starr boys with typical expressions

Jason and his MiniMe with matching smiles open a present.

Betty Bargainfinder strikes again

I love thrifting and yard-saling. It's getting to the point that I don't get much since I finally have my house all furnished and mostly decorated. Now that I work early Saturday morning I have been taking the long way home because I just.can't.resist.

Here are some things I'm just so happy about:

all the blocks for $1 (I spy Eli chilling out)

Eye sore? yeah but Ethan Allen headboard, free table, and antique cabinet from DI "make me HAPPY".

I scored this lawn mower from a yard sale. I excitedly called Jason since we've been trying to find a used one.
Me: Guess guess guess what I got?
Starr: What?
Me: A LAWNMOWER! For cheap!
Starr: Sweet. Does it work?
Me: Uh, yeah. They said it did.
Starr: You didn't start it up before you bought it?
Me: Uh, no.
Starr: But it works?
Me: Yeah... probably...
Starr: Is it propelled?
Me: Huh?
Starr: Does it look like it helps move itself foward?
Me: Uh, I'm looking at it and yeah... no... just wheels, no extra handle... so no.
Starr: Okay... What brand is it?
Me: I've never heard of the brand.
Starr: Okay. Um...
Me: It has a bag..
Starr: Okay bud. I'll look at it when I get home from work.

I realized it was a total impulse purchase but I was SO EXCITED when I saw it. I spent most of the rest of that day trying to get it to start, nearly ripping my arm out of its socket, cleaning it up, and eventually mowing the back yard. When Jason got home I tried to play it cool and aloofly mentioned I got it started as if it was no big deal. "Oh cool" was his response. I think he meant "how freaking awesome!"

sometimes...

Sometimes they look like me.

Life at a glance

I feel like life is really busy. At first I thought it was adding work to the schedule, but that hardly counts. There just seems to be a lot going on. Here's our week calendar. I use these to keep track of everything yet I still manage to forget some pretty important things. I constantly feel like I'm falling behind. One step forward, two steps back. The To-Do list gets longer, the laundry pile gets higher, all while I spend the extra little minutes blissfully enjoying my boys. There's a gazillion warm-fuzzy quotes about how life is supposed to be like that yet I still wish I could accomplish more. My mom managed to raise 9 happy kids, keep a tidy house, cook like a gourmet, and work. So...

Recently I read a line from a friend's blog that really struck me. Do something each day that cannot be undone. I love it. It can be so frustrating to finish mopping the floor only to have Mr. Right come in with muddy boots. It drives me nuts to go downstairs and find the toy box has exploded my absence. Housework is like shoveling in a blizzard. No matter how hard or fast you work the progress is rapidly covered up with fresh snow. THAT is why I love this saying. I'll forever have dishes to do, but if I can do something permanent today, and each day, then I can still go to bed feeling accomplished even if the condition of my house proves otherwise. So I can play with my kids and hold them close. Nothing can take that away. I can work on creating something, despite my crafty ineptitude, it will still mark the day as existing. I can snap pictures. And I can write.

I keep thinking that soon things will slow down. Maybe they will... like when I'm 80. 

best(s)

Jason is the best scout leader.
We have the best backyard for scouts.
We have the best scouts.

We've had a lot of fun this spring working on first aid, plant and animal ID, fire starting, fire building, going on a compass orienteering trip/Easter egg hunt, and going from store to store pleading for donations for the Scout Expo. If nothing else I hope that Scouts has taught these boys how to properly talk to store managers!

boys and their toys

Since we aren't leaving this summer (do I say that a lot? I just love saying it) we decided to put in a garden.

I'm sure Jason just *hated* every minute in the bobcat.

Here's the amazing drip system Jason created. Even if the whole garden is a failure, this was a huge success that I'm very proud of. Not that I can take any of the credit... still proud!

And no day of dirty work is complete without being serenaded by a didgeridoo.

HiHoHiHo It's off to work we go

I am working at SkyWest again. Once my actual schedule starts I'll be working about 10 hours. 10 hours still gets us flight benefits. Enough said.

When Jason spotted the job posting I shocked all of us by intensely wanting to apply. I felt a little crazy since Eli was barely two months at the time. I dusted off my fancy clothes and updated the ol' resume. Actually, not much has changed since I worked for SkyWest before so there was very little updating to do. I thought about adding "midwife" to the skills sections since to by a lay midwife all you have to do is declare yourself a midwife and start delivering babies. Check. But in all seriousness it was a little weird getting back in to a working frame of mind. It really felt like the right thing to do though. Not to mention I had said, just one week before, that we needed to start planning and saving for a trip to Africa even if it meant I got a side job to fund it. Ask and ye shall receive or what?!

One week of training in SLC (a million thanks to Mom, EvaDean, Jess, Lisa, Amy, and Misty for helping with the babes), a couple weeks of On the Job Training, and I'm almost ready to go. It'll be nice to start working my set schedule so I won't work so much :) Working at the airport is WAY different from my cushy job at the Travel Center at the corporate office but I LOVE IT. I try to act cool around my co workers but I just about skip to the car at the end of the day. It's fun working with airplanes. I'm having a blast. The people I work with are really stellar as well. The only downer is the schedule I ended up with but I'm optimistic and I'm trying to keep in mind that it's not going to be those hours forever.

I find de-icing the plane extremely entertaining. It's crazy and cold but it makes me smile. Here's a picture of one of the more exciting days. This particular day my co worker had to de-ice 3 times before they could take off. He was mighty cold.

Huge snowflakes

I had the chance to de-ice for the first time last week. It wasn't storming, but that boom goes pretty high and it pretty jerky/tipsy feeling. The glycol spray that melts the ice also covered me pretty well. Luckily we wear more gear than an astronaut and it protects pretty well. (I discovered glycol tastes sweet though). Anyway, the point of all this is that on my first time I managed to break the very expensive de-icer. I'm pretty amazing like that. I was stuck up in the boom pretty high until the boss man manually lowered it from below. Later after the plane took off we had a chance to take a closer look and found the thick electric cord had tangled up in the hose reel and actually severed when I went up high to spray the tail. Severed! Hi, I'm the new girl and I just made sure your weekend of de-icing will totally suck.

Yeah, I broke that

 In closing, I promise to never again break the de-icer. I promise to try to be home before the kids wake up. I promise to use my flight benefits to the max. And I promise to do it all with a smile.

Education

This weekend I learned:


There is a much easier way to make cake balls.
Mason responds to my warnings better if I count backwards from 5 instead of from 1 to 3.
Beans really have rocks in them. Mason and I found 4.
100 lbs of wheat fill 2 and 3/4 buckets.


Eli thinks he wants 6 oz but his stomach only fits about 4.
I can wake up hours before the kids and not hate it.
Marshaling an aircraft makes me smile for 72 hours straight.
The average blanching time for cauliflower and broccoli is about 3 minutes.
If Jason signs up to substitute primary I will end up teaching.
4 year olds are really really wiggly.
One pot of beans feeds three once, five the next day, and then one more, and then three more. There is one bowl left over last I checked. Luckily not everyone was hungry.
Similarly, 1/2 batch of bread makes countless Doughjons (scones), three round loaves, and feeds everyone.
I can feed an unexpected crowd, clean up, get the kids to bed amidst the chaos, and really enjoy it all.
Games upstairs, movie down, and I pick alone time in the den.

Marching on

It's mid March already! I keep thinking that I'll catch up with writing and the other bazillion projects when life slows down. It's faulty thinking. Life just keeps picking up speed. Now that I have 2 minutes to sit and type my mind has gone blank. So much for meaningful essays. Here's a few random blurbs instead:

I have two incredible boys. One is almost three, one is three months. Guess which one sleeps through the night and which one wakes up frequently? It's not the obvious answer.

I get to talk to Lindsey weekly now. We found a time that we're both available and can chat for a bit while she drives home and my kids are asleep. It's wonderful to be current with your bestie. We'll always be close even if we live on opposite sides of the world and never talk, but it's really great to be in regular communication. Also, she brought me chocolate covered pretzels and a greeting card as big as place mat. That's why she's the best. 

We bought a huge 60lbs bucket of sprouts. Have I written about my sprouting obsession yet? Ooooh. I don't think I have. I will soon.

I FINALLY made cake balls after hearing everyone rave about them forever. They weren't perfect, but it was fun. Yes, cake balls are indeed noteworthy.

I asked Mason where he wanted to go for his birthday in a couple months. I suggested the beach or the zoo. He said he'd wanted to go to Kristi's house. 

Also noteworthy that Jason and I fixed our garbage disposal. It made me feel very handy. We are like real homeowners now! Really though, doing stuff like that together is better than any date out on the town. We're getting ready to plant our garden. We'll probably fall deeply in love with each other all over again :) Cooperation and hard work were the things that started our relationship and also the things that seem to draw us closer together still.

I was very recently telling my mom how overwhelmingly happy I was staying at home with my kids. I didn't want to go anywhere, not even the library. Not because I was too tired or scared to go out, I just didn't want to. I gloried in our simple life and quiet days. We were so content. And then a random job opportunity came up. And for some reason I went for it. And for some reason I got it. And for some reason I'm loving it. It's been a whirlwind of changes but I think it's going to work out. Craziness.

Amy took Eli for a whole night. Even though he's a great sleeper I slept so well knowing she was "on duty" and didn't even get sick to my stomach being separated from him. Ironically he woke up several times during the night which is very unlike him. Poor Ames. Oops, I just gave away the answer to the first question. 

Eli's baby blessing was a few weeks ago. Both sides of the family came for the occasion. We were only missing four brothers out of the 18 combined siblings. Mason loved being entertained by all his cousins. When he woke up the next day he wandered around the quiet empty house asking where his friends were.

And because no entry is complete without a picture, here's the fam. I just realized I look absolutely nothing like my mother.

little and littlest

Little Mason has never seemed so big. Eli seems absolutely tiny.