Rainbows

It seems like I have not seen a rainbow for so long! I went to take the garbage out to the curb the other nights and there was a beautiful full rainbow. Normally I would run and get Travis to come out and see it (and he would be just as captivated as me and so glad I got him, wouldn't you? )--but this time it wasn't possible so I actually went and got Noah out of bed since he wasn't asleep yet and brought him down to see it with me. I love rainbows. Why is it that beauty is so much better when shared with others? I would have been so happy to have seen it, yet disappointed if I couldn't have found someone to share it with.

So Cool

A real watermelon! Growing in our garden! How cute is that? It is nerdy to say, but I am so in love with this thing. I posted this picture first because it's so impressive, but the last picture shows the size more with my hand next to it. It's still very small, and very very cute.

Angelic you say?...

I am going crazy here with this very adorable and maddening child. Let me give a few highlights from his day. Mind you these are highlights and there are plenty of crazy details missing.

Wake up at 6:00, bright eyed and bushy tailed. Lots of smiling. Come into room with mom, empty diaper bag, take bites from the 3 apples in there. Go into mom's bathroom, come out with razor mom thought she hid. Grab mom's phone. Unravel roll of toilet paper. Wave to daddy on the webcam. Get very angry when food is mentioned, must eat NOW. Yell until I get food. Smile a lot again. Notice the door didn't get closed to the garage, escape into garage and dump cup of milk out there. Come inside when Mom drags me. Empty out the kitchen cupboards. Dump out box of cheerios. Look innocent. Ooooh, someone left the bathroom door open again. Go in but get caught before making too much trouble. Climb onto coffee table and fall onto couch from it over and over. Laugh a lot. Find daddy's phone. Run away from Mommy when she sees it. Lose mommy's phone. Empty diaper bag again. Dump box of grapenuts onto floor. Laugh lots more. Dump cup of water that was close enough to the edge of the table that I could reach it. Look innocent. Take a nap, but make sure to wake up earlier than normal. I'm afraid Mommy might get something done. Chase vacuum around and grab cord. Go to the pool and try to drown myself multiple times. Show Mommy the tick in my hair and see what she does. Come home and cry for food. Laugh when I get it. Eat lots. Grab the corningware dish that's on the table and bring it smashing to the floor so that nobody will have to eat the squash. Look more innocent. Why is it in lots of little pieces now? That's kind of cool. Turn TV on and off while my brothers try to watch a movie. That always get a good reaction. Empty cupboards again. If I could just get the fridge open...Jump up and down on couch and tackle Ammon. Laugh and smile when mommy says it's time for bed. Fall exhausted into bed, asleep within 3 seconds. I can't wait for tomorrow....

Garden progress

This tomato plant was had the misfortune of being close to the mudpit the kids all played in last week. It hasn't been so happy since...

A couple of these tomato plants are taller than me. We just ate our first 3 grape tomatoes today. Very yummy.

Not flourishing, but some things are growing, and there even a couple of zucchinis starting to form that look healthy enough.

Okay, this watermelon plant just keeps growing. I wish I knew what was making it so happy, so I could spread the joy.

Our New Toy

We have been wanting to get a trampoline for a long time and meant to get one for this last Christmas. But we didn't for some reason. Anyway I finally gave up on the idea for awhile, and suddenly we are blessed by wonderful giving friends who are moving away and decided to give us their trampoline. I am so excited (and the kids are a little, too). Now I just have to establish some strict rules, and start off strong with those rules. Four boys and a trampoline could be a recipe for disaster. But what a great way to burn energy!

Long week

So I guess the first 2 weeks without Travis sped by and it was time for a hard one this last week. On Wednesday, Kaden had a tummy ache. My friend's husband was out of town for a few days and the air conditioning in their house is not working, so they were coming to spend the day with us, possibly longer if it didn't get fixed. Kaden threw up. I called Nikki and told her she was totally still welcome, but that he had thrown up. She came anyway, and he was great the rest of the day. Then they ended up staying the night. Thursday Ammon had a tummy ache. He threw up 4 times throughout the day. They stayed again that night. Friday I didn't feel well at all and her little 10 mth old daughter was throwing up and mid day Nikki started throwing up. Then in the evening it was Noah, and just after being put to bed, her 2 year old Paul. Let me tell you, it's been great fun. Nikki's husband, Ryan got back Friday night and they stayed here that night and Saturday night. We love to have visitors and distractions, yet it's nice to have a more peaceful house now when you feel awful, and not worry so much about taking care of everyone. That sounds bad. On top of it all, the camera broke that I got for Mother's Day. At least it's having issues and it's very sad.

On a happy note we all went to church today, because it had been a good 36 hours since any active sickness. In sacrament meeting Noah wrote a couple of notes to me. He's becoming a regular poet I would say. On Thursday night, Nikki and I watched a movie while she dyed my hair. Anyone who hadn't seen me for awhile would say it no different because it's the way it used to be, but it's been getting so dark and dirty looking. Anyway, it's my first true hair dying experience, and my kids didn't notice until yesterday as they were brushing my hair....Kaden suddenly said "Hey we are brushing it so much it's getting lighter!" And Noah "Yeah, your right, kind of more golden, let's check underneath, yep it's getting lighter" Anyway, that explains part of his note...
Isn't that funny? I thought so, anyway.

I also got called into the Primary Presidency today. I don't really know anything about the primary and feel pretty inadequate to be as much help as I want to be, especially with crazy psycho Micah boy in tow. I know I will learn so much and be a better person and mom for it and I am excited, but as I sat in there today and hardly even knew any of the kids names, and looked through the binder, I realized there will have to be a huge baptism by fire learning curve.

What to do what to do

Dear little Ammon. So he is more than 3 1/2 years old now. He always been our cuddlebug which was very nice. He also was pretty needy whenever I was around from 6 mths to a year and a half, then had a better year, then turned a little cranky just before Micah was born. I give all this history trying to come up with some diagnoses or clue that will help me with him right now. It could just be a 3 year old thing. Noah was a difficult 3 year old. But in a different way. Ammon wakes up whining and crying, throws crying fits regularly all day every day, and lately has been even throwing blocks at his brothers and friends when he gets frustrated. (Not anymore, because I took all of the blocks away). He decided on his own to potty train while we were in Florida on our way to Virginia. I hadn't planned on it, because we were totally in transition but I went along and he was a champion! He was so easy compared to Noah and Kaden and it was awesome. He has stayed dry during the night from the beginning and has very rare accidents. But this morning he woke up wet, and has had 4 more accidents throughout the day. Trav made some comment a little while ago, "It's like he's starved for attention or something" and I am wondering if I am somehow not giving him what he needs. I am not sure what to do with him. We have had a lot of chaos around here for the past weeks or so. Maybe that's it. Maybe he's confused about his dad not being here and missing him? He doesn't really talk to him on the webcam usually. Maybe he's totally neglected. Or maybe he needs a lot more sleep. I'm pretty sure he should be taking naps but just doesn't sleep at quiet time, and he wakes up pretty early. I think I should be putting him down an hour or so earlier than everyone else's 7:30 bedtime. I wish I knew what to do...