My Little Dude!

Well, it has happened, Jaymeson has turned 1 year old. I can't believe it.

at his birthday dinner....

He's supposed to still be my little baby, but he's growing up so fast. This year has been full of such wonderful things that I can't imagine it all fitting into just one year, but it had just gone way too fast. It seems like just the other day that I was given this beautiful little boy. The hernia scare, the month long wait that seemed to take forever before surgery. His first smiles, his sweet personality, were so quick in coming. He has the sweetest disposition. He is very rarely upset...even when he is hurt, he calms himself down very quickly. There has been MANY people comment on what a happy boy he is and I cannot argue. He has brought a vast amount of love into our family. My girls smother him to death every day and he is spoiled with the attention that he is given. It is very strange and wonderful how attached you feel to a baby the second it is born. I feel that there is a very strong bond between a mother and her son and I am SO honored to feel that when I am with my little Jaymeson. I thank my Father in Heaven every day for the wonderful little angels he has given to me. I just can't believe I've had this little one around for a whole year.

To celebrate his birthday, he had his first haircut yesterday. He looks almost bald because he's so blonde, but he is just so grown up I can hardly stand it.

My little dude is talking!! He says, Uh Oh!, MEE-eeeee (with the inflection that his sisters do when I ask them 'who wants ice cream?'), Yeah!, Mama, Dada, Yaia (Kaia), and 'There he is' (sounds more like "de-he-es") when I say, "Where's Jaymeson" and cover his face. He claps when you say YAY!! and sometimes he'll say 'Yay!' too! He also will just randomly say a word that someone else has said. I can't keep track of all the times he's done that, but it happens a LOT! He waves his arm back and forth to say hi or night-night and sometimes he'll say hi too. When you say good-bye, he waves by holding up his hand and closing his fingers. His first word was definitely Yeah! He says it over and over again when you ask him anything. He also loves to just talk in baby language. He will just talk to himself sometimes and it cracks me up!

Jaymeson seems to be taking after his father in the bookworm department. He will NEVER stay still except when I'm holding a book. He comes right over and sits on my lap and doesn't move until the book is done. He loves to turn pages and point at the pictures. He also babbles constantly after I read to him. He's going to be a smart little guy!

True to being a boy, he is ON THE GO! It is very hard to see Jaymeson without seeing him in motion. He crawls as fast as some people run, I'm sure! He will take off in full steam when you say his name and it's actually somewhat difficult to catch up sometimes. He has taken 10 steps (on his Daddy's birthday - 10/10/09) and will be full on walking soon. He mastered going up the stairs when he was barely crawling (about 6 months) and has more recently started turning around to go down the stairs!!

He loves EATING (true to both sides of the family). He loves all kinds of food. He'll eat almost anything you put in front of him, but if you have grapes or cherry tomatoes, he'll start screaming until you give him some. If he's in his highchair and he has food on his tray, he's a happy man!!

Jaymeson could very well be a dentist when he grows up. He loves teeth and mouths. If you are talking when you hold him, watch out! He'll more than likely put his fingers into your mouth and 'discover'. Just like any good Dentist, he likes teeth a LOT, so much that he has already cut 7 teeth and is currently working on #8.

In my family, music is very important, and Jaymeson seems to have a knack for it. I know it sounds crazy to determine this so early, but he really LOVES music. He falls asleep very quickly when classical music is played. He dances and bops to the beat (and he's right on the beat) when there is some music on. He loves watching Kaia practice the Violin and when we are at Kienna's Cello lessons he sits still and watches in awe. He also sings when we're singing (especially at church) and he has a sweet little voice but it has a great quality and I can't wait to see if he has the booming loud incredible voice of his father... We all know he looks like him, perhaps he inherited the lungs too.

I have just loved watching my little boy grow and discover so much this year. It's hard to believe all that can be taught to just a tiny little boy.











(Pictures are birth, 1 month - 12 months as you go down)



Pictures of his Hair Cut yesterday:







































Happy Birthday Jaymeson. We sure love you!!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Is it True?

After singing Angel's Lullabye for bedtime tonight, Kienna asked me

"Mom, is it true.....what they say in this song? Are there REALLY angels watching over us at night?"

I told her what I truly believe. Yes! Even though sometimes we can't see them, and sometimes they come in the form of friends and neighbours, there ARE angels everywhere around us. Heavenly Father is constantly watching over us and his angels are a way that he protects us and shows us his love.

I could see that Kienna was touched and excited. She said, "I think I saw an angel in here yesterday...."

Then Saryn jumped in, "Yeah - it was at Costco!!"

I thought we might be going to Costco too much when Saryn asks to go there, but apparently it's because she likes to see the angels that hang out there....

Either way, I'm thankful for my little angels that I get to see every day of my life! How could I not believe in Angels when I've been blessed with 4 of them?!?

Epiphany! Kienna and Saryn style

This morning Kienna told me that she must be growing up fast. She feels like a super big girl...

Why?

Her heels are getting dry and they feel like they might crack. She is getting super excited because this means she's becoming like her mom. Poor girl doesn't know that her mom suffers terribly from those cursed heels.


Yesterday, Jarett decided to teach the girls that he's super talented. He showed them that he can laugh without smiling. Not like a little pansy, "hahaha" but like a howling, loud laugh that makes him sound like he's rolling on the floor holding his stomach (I'll have to get it on video soon). Before he showed them his "gift", we asked if they could laugh without smiling. Kaia and Kienna laughed like most people do. Holding their lips tight and saying "haha". I asked Saryn if she wanted to try:

Um, no.....I can't do it.....it's broken!

Great Green Goodness

Upon seeing a green milkshake, one doesn't jump with excitement, but after a spinach, pear, strawberry, banana smoothies....you might change your mind. I know that Saryn did....maybe you can just help me figure out what her final verdict is:

"I don't like it just a little bit, but a lot bit... a little."

I'm still trying to figure out if that means she LOVES it, or can't STAND it. Perhaps her face can help me....

What's your verdict on this one?

Cookie Monster, Pie Crust and an awesome Thanksgiving!

After eating dinner at my sister, Alanna's house, she offered some delicious cookies. My kids each had 2 throughout the night and when we were leaving Saryn asked for her second one. Jarett gave it to her and then Kaia asked

"Can I have my second cookie, too?"
"No, you've already had yours....."
"No I haven't!"
"Yes you did! (Kaia looking super embarassed) Why would you ask for your second when I KNOW that you've already had it?"
"Well, I didn't KNOW that you knew that."


Granted, the floor isn't a great place for a bag of bread.....but when the kids are no where around it's where it was put when the groceries were brought in. Kienna was walking around the kitchen in a path that would lead no where NEAR the bread, but when she saw it, she went over and stamped right in the middle of it. Just irresistible, I suppose. "Kienna, why would you do that?" "I don't know" (Anyone seen Bill Cosby "Himself"?!?)

Thanksgiving was WONDERFUL. Jarett turned 32 on Saturday! We had an incredible dinner at a Greek Restaurant in Calgary that just opened, Peki (it's where Santa Fe Grill used to be). I highly recommend the roast lamb that is there. We watched a couple movies over the weekend. My little nephew was blessed on Sunday and we had dinner at Alanna's house. Her in-laws, the Moodys, were there and it was so great to talk to them. They have recently returned from being mission president in Baltimore and are just incredible people. It was great to see them again. Monday was Thanksgiving Dinner and most of the day was dedicated to making it. It was fun to have just me and my mom in the kitchen for some of it. I got to make my first pie crust and make lots of rolls with Kienna and Saryn helping (I really was quite impressed with how good their rolls turned out). After dinner, pie and some fun conversation, we had to leave and head back to Edmonton. So sad.....but it was a GREAT weekend.

Sorry for the picture overload.....I MAY have gone a little picture happy (shocking, I know)!

Jarett opening his birthday present...a PS3 that will be returned soon....

Cousins - Jarom and Kaia.

A classic rivalry between my brother-in-law and my sister (not the one he married).....

Alanna and Dustin caught in a bonding moment

Jack and Jaymeson "sharing" a puzzle.

Travis showing his scary face....

The proud Grandma's

Nothing like a Grandma's love!

Our Thanksgiving Prayer.... (actually it was bed time and I came up to this as Jarett was getting them ready for bed....it was too classic looking, I had to grab my camera)

Her Favorite Book

Saryn has been asking me if we can read out of the 'Nephite Book'. She is so excited to flip through and "read" the book. We look at the pictures and I tell her the story behind them and she LOVES it. It's very exciting to me to see how she really picks things up. During conference, she heard someone mention the Lamanites and the Nephites and she got excited and brought me the Nephite Book. It's nice to know that scripture study DOES pay off and they DO pick up on some things that you read!

My Little Man!

Yesterday my little man wasn't feeling so good. Within 5 minutes he had thrown up all over his car seat, blew out of his diaper and wet on the carpet. I took him upstairs for a bath and before he was clothed again, he had thrown up again. My poor little guy. He had wicked bad gas, but he seems to be doing a lot better today!!

Over all, however, Jaymeson has had a few fun things going on. Yesterday, he took a few steps without ANY help. If you try to get him to walk, he absolutely refuses. But if you leave him be, he'll take a few steps when he feels like it. I WILL get this on video soon.

He is totally talking up a storm...he is waving and kissing and clicking and saying uh-oh and dada and mama and all sorts of goodness. But keeping with his stubborn nature, he will NOT do it in front of the camera. I've tricked him into it a couple of times.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Lucky 26!

Kienna informed me yesterday that I was very lucky! I was thinking: I really am, I have 4 beautiful kids, a WONDERFUL husband, I have the gospel, I have so many good friends.... but I was wondering why SHE thought I was lucky!

"Because you're so old and you haven't even DIED!!!"

Can't wait to tell her this story when she's a whopping 26!

Merry Christmas

What's that? It's too early to be Christmas? I totally agree. Unfortunately, Mother Nature isn't on my side... This morning, I woke up to this:


That's right! SNOW!!! It's not even supposed to let up for a while, 1-3 cm of snow TODAY.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE snow. Seriously, I do. I love playing in the snow, I love the white goodness. I love the crisp feeling under your feet. I love the coming of Halloween and Christmas. I love toboganning, skating, snowmen, hot chocolate. All the things that come with it. I actually even like shovelling snow (most of the time). I'm just not the biggest fan of it lasting 8 months. No breaks, nothing. 8 months of snowy goodness. Once it accumulates, we won't see the grass again until April and it won't be completely gone until May (or this year it was June). It's also much more difficult with 4 kids. Bundling them all up to drive as far as a whole 2 blocks. Sigh. But....here's to thinking positively!

The GOOD thing about Christmas coming today was that I got a present. I've been doing Weight Watchers since Friday. I started exercising on Monday as well and this morning I finally did the drop that I wanted. I'm down over 4 pounds!! HOORAY! That was a great present to receive on a Snowy Morning. Now I get to go have some more exercise by digging out the boots and snowpants! Hooray!

A Bit out of the Every Day.....

So, you know how your life just goes along and you feel like nothing changes? Sometimes you just wish you had SOMETHING to break up the monotony, right? Well, today I got it! I was watching my kids "kidrope" and feeding Jaymeson breakfast when I notice a few firemen walk behind my house. I excitedly show my kids the firemen and continue on with my life. ADMITTEDLY that MAY not have been the brightest move. Luckily, I moved into the front room to pick up the "kid ropes" and see a fire truck parked right in front of our house. I was excited and took a picture (I had the camera in hand as I had just taken the pictures of my kids from the previous post)



As I check and see if it was a good picture, I turned my head and saw this:


8 firetrucks and about 50 firemen were right in front of my house! If you look closely, you can see that they had sectioned off the road so cars couldn't drive by or anything. It was then that alarms started to sound off in my head and I needed to figure out what the heck was going on. I saw no flames, but there were some people in my row of townhouses that were standing outside in house coats. When it's your very row of townhouses, you get a little panicked. I quickly asked what is going on. Apparently someone's furnace had exploded (like flames in a full circle around the basement) and somehow put itself out. Unfortunately, the gas in the furnace kept on leaking out and "apparently" that's a concern. I didn't know what to do. I felt somewhat safe with all those firemen ready to go, but still felt the urge to get OUT! I quickly (and kindly) made sure that no one was going to light anything (namely cigarettes....this lady smokes at least 5 packs a day, I swear). I ran inside and called Jarett to see what he thought. He didn't answer his cell because he was in class. So, I wrote him on MSN to explain what happened and he called me back in about 30 seconds flat. Told me to get out and run for the hills (essentially). As he did this, the firetrucks began to pull away. Things began to clear up and only one truck was left behind. They checked and made sure the gas remained off and the levels went down. Eventually they cleared out and all is well.....just a little excitement we had this morning!

The real irony of all this is that just yesterday, my kids brought home a fire safety pamphlet and we filled it all out and did all the "planning" for a fire. After they finish their pamphlet, they are entered into a draw for a free computer, so that's pretty cool. I thought SO light heartedly about it. Yeah, this is a good thing to know, but it's NEVER going to be a problem for us, right?!? Today hit me a little close to home.

If anyone doesn't know, my Grandparents house burned down when I was 11 and they lost almost EVERYTHING. The fire department didn't come for over 45 minutes after the call was made and they watched a roof fire become a gas fire and watched their house with all their memories from South Africa and all their kids childhood memories all evaporate into nothing. I know how horrid fires can be and I hope to NEVER have a repeat of today or anything like it.

It really made me think, though. What are the precious things (of course, after children) that I would HAVE to bring out of the house if I even THOUGHT there was going to be a fire. I know I'd grab my computer (all the pictures and memories on here are NOT replaceable) - I should probably back it up and have the backup somewhere else..... The boxes of pictures, the scrapbooks, my purse, my Journals. What else would you want to bring out?

Kid-roping!

This morning Kienna asked me if her and Saryn could please kid-rope this morning. I had not quite been awake long enough to process what she might be asking and had images of children "roping" each other like in a Rodeo! After explaining to me what she meant, I figured out that she wanted to get the Pilates bands out that I have for the kids to use while I do Pilates!

Kienna quickly dived into teaching Saryn to flex and point her toe while they "kid-roped" away.

Who's the Boss??

Overheard this morning:

Kienna: Saryn, are you the boss of this house??
Saryn: Yes!
Kienna: No you aren't! Mom is!!
Saryn: ....and Dad.....
Kienna: No..... Just Mom!

There's a girl with her head screwed on JUST RIGHT!!

Conference Weekend

I keep reading my friends blogs from in Utah where they are walking outside and they don't mention freezing. So jealous! We started conference weekend with a trip to the store. (I'm just not THAT good of a Mom to be able to sit through 4 sessions with my kids in cramped quarters). The kids were great and the best part was Saryn falling asleep on the way home. She slept for over 3 hours!! What a great break (for her and me).

After she woke up, Jarett and I took the kids on a walk. What?!? The kids were too cold with only their fall jackets on when we went to the store this morning? YES!! We had to dig up the winter coats and wear them. Frustrating. The rain started and it was cold - and I'm quite sure that I saw some with quite a white tint to them. Snow in October is NOT a strange thing. I'm just sad that it's coming so soon. In Edmonton it stays once it accumulates. Once the grass is hidden, it's gone for at least 6 months, sigh. I'm just glad there's no accumulation - just yet. I like to fall WAY too much. Regardless, my dear children looked SO sweet in their new jackets! I bought them a few months ago and I was so excited to see them finally wearing them.

Kienna wasn't super impressed for some reason, but even while crying she's super cute...

So Sunday comes around and it was WONDERFUL. I LOVE conference and was so excited to be able to sit and watch it. Kaia and Kienna had a list of 10 words that they got to circle whenever they heard it during Conference. I was surprised, they really did well. Kienna got frustrated by the end and Kaia was sitting right in front of the screen soaking it all up (determined not to miss a word) and they both got all 10 words!

I made wonderfully delicious Banana Muffins and then watched the second session sans kids. Jarett made a wonderful dinner and then headed off to a rehearsal while the kids and I did some wiggle removal exercises before bed. They were SO funny. After a few songs with Saryn, I whipped out the camera and then the older girls had to join. I swear that Saryn was born for the stage. She's such a little diva. We ended with a little Can Can on the piano. The kids LOVE it...look at them gathering around. Even little Jaymeson was bopping along! Kienna told me that a full Audience couldn't come, so I was their only Audient!


Before I post these videos I want to make a couple things clear:

1. PLEASE DO NOT feel pressure to watch all (or any) of these videos. I simply could not pick a favorite and so I have uploaded them all.

2. I do not put ANY of these ideas in my kids heads, they come up with it on their own. Saryn has a HUGE imagination. If she does the dance to what I say at the beginning it is only because she just told me what she was going to do and I'm filling you in on the subject of the performance.

3. If you don't recognize any of the songs it's because they are all originals. These are the world premiers of Saryn's songs, and Kaia and Kienna's stories!

Without further adieu.... the world premiers!!

Saryn's Princess Dance (Part I)

after running to save Jaymeson, it was continued...

Saryn's Princess Dance (Part II)


sorry for the crying at the beginning, Jaymeson was still recovering from the fall in Video I.

Saryn's Hippo Dance


Saryn's "Once There was a Little Tree in a Little Tree Forest"


So, next in line are:
Kaia's Story/Dance
Kienna's Story/Dance
Saryn's Mom and Dad Song AND
The Can Can (Grand Finale)

All put together (thank you Amelia) in one easy viewing:

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Hope you enjoyed what you saw of our little (many) show(s)!

My FIND!

My cousin, Alyson, called me on Friday asking me to accompany her to IKEA. Done! I'm always up for a trip there. Saryn's potty trained, so she went into Smallville (the play place there) and it was just me and my cousin and our babies. So much more relaxing! Anyway, I ran into my friend, Ben, who recommended that I check out the "as is" section to see if one of the shelving units that I like are there.

I picked up Saryn from Smallville and headed over to "AS IS" and I begin to scour the boxes and I find a couple things that look like shelves, but were apparently wardrobes. I began to give up - then I saw it.... it was a double wide shelving unit. 6 shelves of goodness. It said it was damaged on the box, but it was regular price $145 and marked down to $80. So I began to weigh the price with the risk, yadda yadda yadda.... I had decided it might not be worth it....but then I saw the sign. It was BEAUTIFUL!! It said, "All boxed AS IS units - additional 60% off". SOLD!! $32 for a unit that was regularly $145 - I couldn't believe it. I had no idea what colour it was or how damaged it was or anything, but it was worth a $32 risk to me. My kids DESPERATELY needed a new shelf in their room and even if a shelf was broken in two, I could work around it.

I got it home and Ally and I went right to work to assemble it and put it together. It was perfect. I still have no idea why it was labeled "damaged". It's in perfect condition, it's a great colour and it fits in my kids room like it was custom made. I'm DELIGHTED!! It doesn't feel cheap, like a lot of IKEA stuff does....it seems like a lasting piece. Even Jarett showed some excitment with the find. It works. So, here it is... my FIND!!

Volcano

Remember yesterday when I wrote that Kienna had fire in her tummy?? Well, it turns out that she was a volcano yesterday and had to erupt again and again. This explained her being so cranky and frustrated in the morning. Anyway, the day ended up looking a bit like this.


So glad that girl is "bucket trained". She asked if I would please get her a blanket and a bucket. Within 10 seconds of bringing those to her, she turned to the bucket and threw up.

Oh, WHAT A DAY!!

Even Saryn was sitting ridiculous still and relaxed and just wanted to snuggle. I know, WEIRD!! So they were able to watch Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Enchanted while I got some good reading/laundry time. I finished Pride and Prejudice! It was WONDERFUL! I'm moving on to Wuthering Heights now. We'll see how fast I get into that one...

Amazing Grace

This morning has been one of those mornings where I've been laughing constantly. Simply because if I didn't laugh, I'd be screaming. As we all woke up and got going, I asked Kienna if she would make her bed and then come downstairs for breakfast. We were able to all get dressed, have breakfast, scripture study and family prayer before I even heard from Kienna again. I had just opened up an email from my grandmother containing this incredible video of Il Divo singing Amazing Grace. I was thoroughly enjoying the moment and feeling quite moved when she came downstairs (please have Amazing Grace singing in your mind as your listen to our conversation):

Mom: Oh good, you have your bed made.
Kienna: No! I CAN'T make it.
Mom: Why? What's making it so hard.
Kienna: I have fire in my stomach.
Mom: Oh, well if you're sick, maybe you should go back to bed and have a rest.
Kienna: No, I'm not sick, I just FEEL like I have fire in my stomach.
Mom: Oh, I thought you had REAL fire in your stomach.
Kienna: No I don't!
Mom: Okay, well, if you aren't feeling sick, why don't you go just do your best and I'll help you finish up the little wrinkles.
Kienna: No, I just CAN'T!!
Mom: Honey, I've seen you make your bed lots of times and you do a REALLY good job. Why can't you make it today?
Kienna: I don't know (Bill Cosby fans can start laughing right here)
Mom and Kienna together: Sigh
Mom starts watching incredible music video again
Kienna: Mom, you know why I can't make my bed?? Because I'm UGLY!
Mom: WHAT??!?!??! You are not ugly.
Kienna: NO MOM!! I said I'm HUNGRY! (She may have said this the first time, but this is what I heard - I swear).
Mom: Okay, go have some breakfast really fast and then finish your bed.
Kienna walks away and then runs back in crying: Mom, there's no more cereal.
Mom: Yes there is hon, just let me finish this video (somehow it was still inspiring) and I'll come get it ready for you.
Kienna: But I want to get myself breakfast.
Mom: Okay, well, why don't you go grab a magic cheese (aka Cheese Strings) and then go make the bed. I'll have something waiting for you when you get back.
Kienna gets the magic cheese and comes back in complaining that it is too cold. I warm it up for her. She eats it and complains about how she'll never be able to make her bed. I remind her that I just want her to do the BEST she CAN. That doesn't mean it's perfect, it doesn't even mean that it's close to good, just PLEASE try.
She then collapses in tears.

Saryn then chooses this moment to kick her and to play with all her school papers creating even more agony. Kienna then makes her last stand and goes upstairs to make her bed. I finish it up and help her realize it is NOT the impossible task she has pegged it to be.

As I was watching this inspiring video, I realized how much this situation must be replayed in the eternal scheme of things. How often is Heavenly Father looking down watching his children just pleading with them:

"PLEASE, JUST DO THE BEST YOU CAN!! I'll do the rest! I'll make up for what you can't do. Just please do what I KNOW you are capable of!"

Then we go through every excuse in the book as to why we can't do this simple task. I just need this, I just need that. I can't do it without doing THIS first. I have these other commitments that I think are more important. Whatever our excuse may be.

Regardless, it was a humbling moment. I think I do this a lot more than I'd like to admit....maybe the apple isn't falling far from the tree?!?

Either way, I'm thankful for his 'Amazing Grace; which was hitting me really hard as this scene unfolded to me.

Once the Wheel is in motion....

Well, I've been frustrated (as I have said before) over the past year as I've waited. My pediatrician sent out a request for Kienna to see an ENT on October 6th, 2008. Yesterday, we finally had out appointment. I guess that if you wait a year, the ENT decides to really make it worth your wait. I have NEVER been so happy with how things went.

We went in and filled out some forms, then were right back in the room where the Nurse Practitioner came and did a full exam to see what needed to be done. Within minutes it was decided that Kienna will need her ear tube removed (they are supposed to stay in for approx 9-18 months - so, after being in place for 4 years....). They also looked in her throat and after hearing her medical history decided on a tonsilectomy. After further investigation, it appears that her adenoids may have to be removed as well. Apparently when she breathes through her nose, it sounds like she's sucking air through a straw and it's really restricted. Overinflamed adenoids can also lead to ear and throat infections because they prevent the Eustation Tubes from draining properly (or something like that). This makes PERFECT sense to me. They said that they will scope it out and when they see what her adenoids look like, they'll make a more informed decision on whether they need to be removed or not.

So, in this surgery, her ear tube will be removed, her tonsils will be removed and quite possibly her adenoids. They will also scope out what her ear shape is, etc. They will thoroughly examen any other possibility that might cause her to catch all her tonsilitis, strep throat, ear infections etc. They also were debating whether they would put in another set of ear tubes. Her right ear drums looks very calloused and concaved, so they felt that she may be hard of hearing. Within 1 hour, we were able to go get an audiogram done. I couldn't believe it. We were in the waiting room for less then 5 minutes before we were called back. The results were given to us on the spot and she had normal results. Apparently 20 or higher is normal and she was exactly 20. So, they decided not to put tubes in and we'll see how things work out.

Now I was scared, I had to book a day for surgery. I was sure that I'd be waiting MONTHS or another YEAR before we could get her in. Nope! They had an opening Oct 29th (kinda mean right before Halloween, don't you think?) or November 10. Not too hard of a choice for me, especially since Jarett has the day off of school on the 10th and 11th.

So, it's all prepared. Nothing left but the surgery (granted, it IS kinda the biggest part), but I thought it would be so much more red tape to cut through and so many more back and forth visits to the doctor. It was so short and sweet.....it left a really good taste in my mouth.

I just pray that this will fix little Kienna's ability to catch EVERY illness that comes around. We don't want to end up like Aunty Hayley with the Swine Flu.... Get better soon Hayley!!

The Cahoon Book Worms!

If anyone knows Jarett, they know that he's a regular book worm. He always has at least 1 book that he's reading and there's usually a few others that he has started around the house. I have caught onto this bug and have started reading as well. It seems that it might be genetic, however, as Kaia is reading like crazy in both French and English (apparently her teacher told her she's reading English at a Grade 4 level and, because she's in French Immersion, she hasn't even learned any English yet). Anyway, the pattern seems to be continuing as all the kids get older. There's been a lot of reading around this place! We all have books we're very excited about reading and it has been great! Jarett is enthralled in many James Clavell and Wilbur Smith (both Historical Fiction) books, but is right now reading, The Winds of War.
I just finished Little Women (which I LOVED - it has such great lessons to learn from it) and I am now thoroughly enjoying Pride and Prejudice. This book is found around the house everywhere. I can't go anywhere without it.


Kaia, Kienna and Saryn are all enjoying a chapter or so of Little House in the Big Woods (the first of the Little House on the Prairie series). As their cousins are all VERY big fans of the show and the books, we have jumped on the bandwagon and the kids love it!! (Saryn actually sits still to listen to it).


Saryn loves looking through books constantly. This one happens to be a hymnbook with pictures in it, but she tells me the story in it and she loves learning the stories behind the pictures. It's been a really great teaching opportunity.


Even little Jaymeson has caught the reading bug. He's a BUSY BUSY boy and does not even come close to sitting still, unless he's on my lap and I am reading him a story. He LOVES books. He loves turning the pages and seeing pictures and hearing the sounds of the words. He's even mimicking words and talking quite a bit (in baby talk). He hits the pictures with excitement. All he needs now is to be lying down with his foot up on his opposite knee and he really would be a clone of his father...


Anyway, that's just a little bit of what is going on around here.

Why So Serious?

We got a Vita Mix today and had a smoothie. The girls loved it, but none had as much evidence as Jaymeson....Doesn't he look just like the joker??

Kaia to the Rescue!!

Problem: Saryn is unconsolably crying in the basement (where Kaia and Kienna want to play) and the noise is irritating them.

Response: Kaia comes upstairs and asks me to put Saryn upstairs in her room so no one can hear her.

Problem: Jaymeson is asleep upstairs and it's more important that Jaymeson doesn't hear her than anyone else.
Response: Maybe Mom and Saryn could watch a movie upstairs while Kaia and Kienna have quiet playtime in the basement.
Problem: Saryn doesn't want to watch the movie upstairs, she wants to watch it in the basement.
Response: "It's totally up to Mom", but Kaia and Kienna could build a wall to divide the basement in half causing Saryn to be able to watch her movie on one side and cry as much as she like while Kaia and Kienna "try their best to stay out of Mom and Dad's stuff" and play on the other side.
Problem: Mom doesn't like the idea of a wall being erected by a 6 and 5 year old in the middle of the basement.
Response: Mom and Saryn could have POPCORN while watching a movie upstairs....Saryn immediately is happy and starts up the stairs.
Problem: Being 3, Saryn has been side-tracked on the way upstairs and is now wanting to build a fort with her sisters.
Response: 3 Girls ask their Mom if they can PLEASE build a fort. Mom now has 3 happy girls and is able to blog for a few minutes.

If there's a problem....

She'll solve it!

Thank you Problem Solving Kaia. We couldn't have done it without you.