LOCKED IN

The door to the kids room locks from the outside. We lock it until they go to bed... or so we don't get interrupted unexpectedly (TMI, sorry). But Brenna has learned to unlock ALL the doors in our house. Which also means she can lock ALL the doors in the house.

I never predicted that this would be a problem until...I was changing Jackson diaper and Brenna locked us in and her and Landon out. I did not stress. I can climb out the window and come in the front door if worse comes to worse. Then I remembered that the front and back doors are locked due to the same problem.

Thank goodness she figured out how to open it... or else Jackson and I would still be in there because Shane also doesn't take his house key to work.

HOUSE OF ECHOES

They have learned that in the parking lot of our complex, which is surrounded by the buildings, they can say "echo" and it makes cool sounds. Inside the house there is CONSTANT noise. The brothers are echoing everything I say, or everything each other says. Brenna echoes herself with her constant repetition of the same question, which once answered, changes to a new one, but only slightly. "Mom, I want some water, mom" repeated 5 times before I can squeeze in a reply, "No, not right now". "Mom, I want some milk, mom". My favorite is when she lumps it altogether. "Mom, I want milk, candy, blankie,movie, mom".

SO POLITE

Where do kids learn it? They hit a certain age and "please", "thank you" and "excuse me" come easily out of their mouths. Jackson is my MOST polite one. He always says "thank you" and SOMEHOW learned excuse me. If he burps he says "me...meee". Today I was feeding him lunch and wanted him to open his mouth wide for a bite. I told him to say, "OOOOO". He did and I guess is sounded to him like a burp and he said, "excuse me".

If I was a better mom I would take all the credit, but it came natural this time.

LITTLE MAMA

You also "cant hide your sins" when it comes to what type of mother you are when no one is around. Brenna is a mirror image of me. She says what I say. Interacts with the brothers as I do. She is a "little mama".

I got done with a workout and lied down on the bed to cool off. (Yes, I was sweaty, but don't worry it was Shane's side of the bed;). Brenna came in and brought me her blankie. She came in a few minutes later with a sippy cup of water...a doll...pulled my blanket over me...gave me a kiss and a hug...said I love you...locked the door handle and said "Now don't come out, Go good-ni-night."

I am also not a sweet, mild tempered mama. I am rough, wrestle, growl, and clench my fists. Jokingly of course but...Brenna does the same. When the boys are getting into something she clenches her fists, growls "OOOOOWWWWW" and gives them a flick on the hand.

Yes...I will work on my mothering habits. Shane sometimes says that our upstairs neighbor must think I am always in a bad mood because he can only hear the growling and raised voice and not the playfulness.

FIVE YEARS...WOW!

Five years down...an eternity to go. Has it been easy? Are you kidding me!!! Do I look like an easy person to live with? Did I come from a healthy family that taught conflict resolution and manners? Did I have parents with a healthy relationship? Do I come from a long line of stable emotions? Nope!!! I am a woman and he is a man. But...it is GREAT!!! Why? Because he is GREAT!!!

Gentle
FORGIVING
Kind
Even tempered (thank goodness, because I can ask for it)
Fun
FUNNY
Genuine
Can take out in public
PURE, but pretends to be rebellious
Works hard (if he NEEDS to)
Plays hard
Handyman
Teachable
Smart (innately knows what is right)
Friendly (everyone adores him instantly)
Trainable (most important ;))

He is wonderful. I LOVE HIM!!!

DECODING BABY TALK

Number One:

I am trying to teach Brenna to have conversations. I usually ask her how her day is, or why she loves her brothers...but today I asked a different one.

Me: "Brenna, what is the name of your doll?"
Brenna: "Book of Mormon."
Me: ???
Me: "You named your doll 'Book of Mormon'?"
Brenna: "Yes, Book of Mormon."
Me: "Why did you name her that?"
Brenna: "Cause." (the way she answers most questions)
Me: "What is your name?"
Brenna: "Book of Mormon."
Me: "Oh Book of Mormon means Brenna Morgan".

***I was not completely misunderstanding her. I asked Brenna a few weeks later what the name of her doll was and she said, "Jesus Christ, Amen"***

GUN ADDICTION

If I would have know...I may have rethought the words before they came out of my mouth..."Shane, I have been working on getting the food storage part of survival, but I really feel we need a gun."

In the space of a few months we are now the proud owners of a Springfield Armory XD handgun and an AR15 (for the extra LITTLE umph of protection)

Any woman would think that this would satisfy the household need. Nope not my man. He has turned into a MONSTER!!! Now he is convinced (and may be right), that I need a gun, and need to take shooting lessons. Which I am not opposed to but...who is going to pay for ALL this. That is one bonus of not getting EDOs.

***EDOs is a list that I put myself on at work. If the hospital is overstaffed, they begin at the top of the list (which is where my name is always found) and begin calling them off. I am known at work as the "EDO Queen"...and secretly hated" ;)

UPDATE: DATE/TEMPLE NIGHTS

It is WONDERFUL. Shane and I have gone to the temple one night and out the eat the next. We got to go to a Moroccan restaurant in Portland where we would never be able to take the kids. We sat on the floor and ate with our hands. Best of all...we were on a date. I really was brought back to how it felt to not have kids and be engulfed in the other persons attention.

The babysitting gig is not so bad either. Yes, my house is a disaster afterward. Yes, there is a lot of screaming, running around, and intermittent crying. Yes, it was A LOT to watch 6 kids at once that are under 6 years old. But it was SO worth it knowing that next week it was my turn for the BLISS of a break from the kids accompanied by my LOVER.

THINGS I LOVE/HATE ABOUT OREGON

Number One: Not-So-Sunny Days

Oregon seems to always be rainy...which I have learned to live with. I have learned to love the Pros over the cons. Pros:It is GREEN and gorgeous wherever you look. The Cons: a morning of beautifully manipulating my hair goes down the drain as soon as the mist gets me when I walk out the door.

But worse of all are the Not-So-Sunny Days. It is the transition from spring to summer. Like this morning for example. The babies played in the "rock" box for awhile in the sunshine. I got brave enough to attempt the park. We have two parks close to our house. One is an easy walk and the other a hike up hill both ways ;). I decided to attempt the hike, because I needed to burn the extra calories. Once I was almost there, without warning, it began to sprinkle and then rain. We were wet by the time we got home.

NON-MOVIE WATCHER

Shane and I love movies...No I did not give them up. When the babies go to sleep at night it is OUR time to catch up on Hulu or watch a Netflix movie. The "non-movie watcher" is me.

Shane says that I NEVER finish the movie we start. I ALWAYS fall asleep. I fought it for awhile in denial but...it is true. I have the desire, but my eyes will not stay open until the end.

Who can blame me?

"LOVES DAY"

If we had a hard beginning of the day then we turn the day into a "Loves Day". We give lots of special hugs and kisses, small caresses and nice words. There is no wrestling or tickling, because it is a "Loves Day". It sounds like a punishment but it is really a game that we enjoy. If someone starts to wrestle, we give them a hug and say, "Hey, its not a "wrestling day" it is a "loves day"."

***The picture is my favorite distraction while doing laundry. The small button that turns the light on and off.***

CANT HIDE YOUR SINS

Everyday before Shane gets home from work the house is picked up and dishes done. I do it mainly so he can relax and not have to watch the kids while I am running around cleaning up. I also do it hoping he will catch on and have the house clean for me after a night shift and not like a hurricane had hit. Still working on him ;).

I also have this fear of a messy home, or people thinking I am messy. Silly but I think it stems from my surroundings growing up. Unlivable to say the least. It is so silly that one day a fedex man dropped off a few packages. I was horrified that he could see that my entryway was a mess. In an hour my house was spotless. I also went to visit a friend in AZ recently that made sure her house was clean and mopped before I came because she knew mine was ALWAYS clean.

I can trick them but I cannot hide my sins. My carpet is a DISASTER. I blame it on 3 babies, but really it is their mom that lets them walk around with crackers and sippy cups. Brenna also does most of her eating at the kitchen counter over the living room carpet, and the brothers have learned how to pull down her food when I am not looking.

I have begun to be extremely embarrassed. The rugs that we bought just do not hide all spills. So I took drastic measures. It was my turn to host the FHE group. That meant 7 ladies would spend the evening in my home. YIKES!! I got my carpets cleaned 2 days prior. I would have pulled it off too, but my sister-in-law knows me and pointed out in front of everyone that my carpets MUST have just been cleaned. Haha.

PREGNANT?

Haha...made you look. Heres the story. Directly after I had the twins I restarted taking birth control, eventhough I knew I probably wouldnt get my period for awhile breastfeeding twins. I did not want to take ANY chances. The birth control that I took was a pill that you take daily continuously, no breakes. You dont get a period. For 15 months I took it faithfully assuming that it was doing its job.

Month 15 I quit breastfeeding and month 16, even with taking the pill, I had my first period. Which leads me to believe that the pill was not working. I stopped taking it, and relied on other efforts. Well I am 2 weeks late and no period. I read online that it can take up to 4 months before the cycle gets regular again. I am in denial and will not take a pregnancy test- plus I am too cheap to buy one. I will hope for a period daily (that is the first and last time you will ever hear those words come out of my mouth).

I also learned that pregnancy is not an option at this time. Shane freaked out when I told him the possibility. Rubbing his head and repeating over and over, "What are we going to do?" I would quit work, potientially lose my license, live on a STRICT budget after taking a hit on the house and have to pay off the amount that we owe about current marker value. Have to save for a new bigger place, because 4 will not fit in that little room.

***Went to work on Friday, Charge RN asked if anyone is pregnant because some pts pregnant RNs cant have. I voiced that it may be possible. A coworker said she was going to buy me a pregnancy test and bring it Saturday night. Saturday afternoon...I got my period. Now my lesbian coworker (remember I live in Portland) has a pregnancy test she will never use.***

ADDICTED

How did I become an Dr. Pepper addict? I have never been a soda drinker. I enjoyed it every once and a while, but never bought it just to have in my house and use daily. It all got worse once I had the twins. I started drinking one can of soda a day. It has now almost been 18 months and the habit continues. I have a husband that shares my belief that it is poison. Every time I open a can I cannot help but think that I am going to lose my kidneys or get cancer. But I cannot help it. I have tried to quit several times and find that rationalization wins over logic and self control.

My rationalizations are...

I have three babies and run on no sleep.

I am nicer mom once I get an energy boost.

4 hours of sleep after up for 24 hours of work (mommy and nurse) is not enough to run on without help.

But I have also realized that I cannot reach my weight loss goals on it. It makes me hungry, munchy, drink less water and generally feel lousy and unhealthy. I am in the process of quiting, but my only hang up is night shift and post shift.

HEAVENLY MUSIC

I do not own a large amount of music. I think that most of my music is still on tapes ;). I have been racking my brain trying to figure out how to get church music into my home daily. I considered combing facebook for people willing to let me borrow their CDs. If I was more hip, and kept up with the trends I would have learned this much faster, but I just barely discovered all that Pandora Radio online has to offer. They have a Mormon Tabernacle channel that plays Mo Tab plus all kinds of other church music. I just turn it on when we wake in the morning and we all enjoy. It sets off our day to a good start. I LOVE it.

SPARROW AGAIN

I really need to repost this at least once a month.

LANDONS QUIRKES

Since he was barely able to move his hands he has been pulling hair. I am not sure if he just loves the feel of it or what. He does not do it meanly, or when he is mad. He does it when they are in the cart together at the store, in their car seats...

He also LOVES to hit people with objects. Sometimes I will have Brenna run to me for comfort and then Jackson immediately after. His favorites are spatulas and attachments to the vacuum. I was giving his a flick whenever he did it. Then he would just stare at their heads and point, or motion the object in that direction with a smile; as if he could not resist, he just wanted to do it so bad.

When he gets upset. he messes up everything around him and then pants until I get him to smile. He is my sweetest but I can tell he is going to be a handful.

VACUUMING

Strangely my children have never been afraid of the vacuum. They do not bolt for the couch and cry until it is over, like I have seen other kids do. They LOVE it. They stand in my way so that I cannot uniformly vacuum the floor. Whenever I stop they are all three around it, touching it, or stealing the attachments. The newest thing that tops it all...they pull out the plug at LEAST 10 times per room. The game is to vacuum as much as possible before the vacuum turns off.

FIRST HAIRCUTS

Long overdue. The mullets had become scruffy and unruly. A movie + candy + patience= success. The only problem was trying to get Brenna to understand that she STILL does not have enough hair for a haircut.

PRIVATE BLOG

This makes me sad. Reality hit and I realized that I had a "stalker", or someone viewing my blog at least 500 times in 6 months, leaving strange comments in Japanese characters. I am not THAT entertaining or interesting.

I have received a lot of comments lately about my blog. I am proud of it. It helps me to laugh about my life and press on. I am also very quiet in real life. Only a choice few people really know everything about me. People say that they learn a lot about me from my blog.

I loved living in denial, thinking that tons of people read my blog. I know that I have a few regulars...thank you.

DECORATING AROUND

Decorating around...food storage that is. Our tiny little two bedroom condo has barely enough room for us. Yes of course we have a garage but...the HOA has their hands on that area...therefore we are forced to decorate our food storage. Good-bye box springs and bed frame. Good-bye coffee and end table. Hello bulky mammoth of an "end table", and bumpy "bed frame".

Now where to put 8 barrels of water...

FOOD STORAGE GONE WILD

What I will do to save a few dollars. About $200 to be "semi" exact. Yes of course I could have canned our three year supply in 10# cans at the LDS cannery, but that would have been the easy way. Instead...

We bought the food in bulk from the cannery.
Bought 4 gallon buckets off craiglist for 85 cents, that were filled with pumpkin pie filling.
Pressure washed all 50 buckets and their lids.
Bought mylar bags.
Put them in the buckets.
Filled with food and 02 absorber.
Sealed them.
And...an exhausted husband later...we have nicely organized >25 year food storage.

BOYS... ARE BOYS

All of the sudden...they became boys. They go from room to room...WRESTLING. It is so cute because they are both the about the same size. Turns out that my little runt, Landon, is the instigator. Brenna cannot stand being on the sidelines but she is used to wrestling with her cousins Jett and Tucker, and she is not very soft with the brothers.

DAILY DANCE PARTY

The babies long outgrew my last "secret weapon" ...the bowl of lemons. I have been searching for a new one, and finally found it. If they are all extra cranky...or if I am cranky;)...I turn on the music and we boogy.



The battery on my camera died right when Jackson started to dance. BUMMER!!

DATE/TEMPLE NIGHTS

From General Conference I realized that I NEED to go to the temple more. I have plans to go to the 4:45am session on Tuesdays but I have been saying that for 3 months now. I also want more dates with my LOVE. So...I convinced my sister-in-law to switch me off Wednesdays. Every Wednesday it will be our turn to either watch all 6 kids under 6 years old, or go out on a date. I am a GENIUS!!!

SQUEALS, SCREAMS

In order to SURVIVE, my babies have learned how to use their lungs as their defense. It has gotten bad. Most days I feel like it is constant screaming at my house.

They scream...

When the other one gets close.

If a toy is taken from them.

For mama to pick them up.

If they are frustrated because they cant do something they want- because they are too small and not capable.

And just for fun, smiling as they do it.

Brenna has learned that this works well also. They all create reason to scream. For example...Landon has begun stealing Jacksons blankie. They play tug of war and squeal loudly. If I give them another of the SAME blankie, they toss it to the side and continue tug of war with the original one.

I am training them. They get a flick on the hand if they scream. I do not see any progression yet. Hopefully they learn soon or else my finger will get sore.

SURPRISE BOX

About a year ago Grandma Karen was over stealing on of my many baby shower bags. She wrapped up her presents very nicely but as she went to leave...Brenna threw a FIT. She thought that those presents were for her. I used my fast motherly thinking and grabbed a shoe box, threw a candy in it, and put a ribbon around the outside. I had no idea the monster that I was creating.

Brenna LOVED it. Everyday she would bring me the shoebox and ask for a birthday. It took awhile to teach her that everyday was not her birthday, but that it was a "surprise box". The box was cute pink and white. It was a fun little thing between her and mama.

The box has seen its days and has recently been recycled. But...today she got new shoes and the box is pink and cute again. So it continues.

COULD HAVE BEEN BAD

I drive a stick shift car. I am very good about putting it in first gear, and putting on the emergency brake when I park.

One night as I rushed to the store and back. I pulled into the garage, which is getting fairly overcrowded. I pulled too far in and bonked a few things. So I put the car in reverse and back up slightly. I got out of the car and looked at the stuff I bonked. The car was a little further back than I thought that I reversed. Oh well my hands were full so I proceeded to walk inside and I would return to shut the garage door. I did happen to take one last glance before I turned the corner and noticed that the car was sticking out of the garage a little. I must have really overcompensated after I bonked that stuff. It wasnt until I returned to the garage that the car was even further out.

After I reversed I forgot to take it out of reverse and did not put on the parking brake. The car was rolling backward and if I did not catch it soon it would have been down the hill and into the neighbors condo.

Needless to say I was so embarrassed that it took a few hours to confess it to Shane.

GLASSES

I spend most of my days at home with fuzzy vision because my kids LOVE to get my glasses. As soon as I put them on, they go straight for them. They get smugded, scratched, and stretched out. I am planning on getting contacts, or teaching them not to touch, but until then I got them some sunglasses at Childrens Place. They are adorable. They wear them well, and put their index fingers up bilaterally for a "cool dude".

"SAND"BOX

The kids love to play outside. I love for them to play outside their a few reasons why we dont do it.

There is a steep downward slope directly outside our back door. The brothers just fall down it constantly.

Our backyard is also the neighborhoods favorite place to let their dogs roam. And they do not pick up after themselves. Which leads to another funny story. It drives Shane insane that dog poop is all over our grass so...he made a nice pile and swore that if he found out who it was...he would leave it on their doorstep. Well. Brenna found it first. We did not notice that she found it until we went to get her out of the car and she had wiped her poopy dog feet all over the back of the drivers side seat.

There are stairs leading to the neighbors house right around the corner and the brothers cannot get enough of them. They are not trustworthy on the stairs yet. Also the landing and stairs are concrete and I know if they fell there would be blood and lots of it.

So...I got a "sand"box on craigslist. I did not want to fill it with sand because of cats, and the mess that it would make. So it is full of pea sized gravel and it has a lid. They LOVE it. On sunny days, they spend all day outside.

Brenna plays good in it but Landon is constantly throwing the rocks out, and Jackson tries to eat them.

Also there have been more and more cats coming around. It does have a lid, thank goodness.

SICKIES

All babies got the flu last week. We had a movie-thon for 4-5 days straight. We survived it but it was a struggle.

I had 2 babies that only wanted to be held by their mama. They DID NOT want to share me. Most of the time they just sat in my lap trying to push the other one off. I could not get anything done while holding them. We just sat and rocked...and sat and rocked.

Brenna was the hilarious one. She is old enough to know how to MILK it. She would either be lying in front of the movie with all of her favorite things - sippy of water, blankie, doll, and mamas pillow. If she was not watching a movie than she was on mamas bed. She would not come out for something. We would just randomly hear. "Shane!...water!", "Twissa...candy bar (granola bar)"

A few days after getting better and we are still trying to get her out of the demanding, entitled, get-whatever-I-want attitude.

GERM FREAK

To say the LEAST. Having 3 babies I am a GERM FREAK whenever one gets sick, so that not only I, but all the others do not get sick at the same time. "It can not be that bad!?", is what I hear you saying in your mind. Well Let me paint you a picture and then you judge for yourself.

Last week Landon started showing signs of the FLU - YIKES!!! I did not want three kids with the flu so...

Landon got 2-3 baths per day. Mainly because he had snot everywhere and intermittent vomit. Also somewhere in my childhood I learned that taking a bath when you are sick makes everything better. A practice that I use on a daily basis but ramp up to extreme when I am sick.

When I held Landon I wore a robe. He would rub his nose or cough into it. Then if Jackson or Brenna needed something I would remove the robe, wash my hands and take care of them.

I wash my hands after touching ANY child, or surface. I do not touch my face or ears.

I do 2 loads of wash a day.

I keep all spoons and sippies, bottles labeled and designated to the child.

I sterlize/boil all things touched, at least twice per day.

After all this you may think that the other 2 are safe from catching what Landon had. No. Jackson of course got a hold of Landons bottle and had a fever a few hours later. And Brenna loved to take all toys that Landon was playing with, right out of his snotty hands.

I did save my self though. I ate a RAW clove of garlic everyday, and took an abundance of vitamin D pills as well as sunshine -when available. I also put hydrogen peroxide in my ears for 10 minutes daily. I came out with a mild headache and runny nose.

CHEF TO BE

I used to cook all the time. I love it and lived for trying out new recipes. But I am a chef no more. I usually figure out dinner by digging through the cupboards at the last minute. I blame it on the fact that I am not able to get to the store very often for food. I go only when I NEED milk, and even then have just time enough to run in and out.

I have a new goal. One NEW recipe a week. Lets see if I can pull it off.

SURPRISE DIAGNOSIS

I have been worried about Landon since last Christmas. I have been hounding the MD trying to get a hand on a definate diagnosis for Landons symptoms. The GERD medications were not relieving the symtpoms so the MD wanted to do a study to see if he is just pooling food and not swallowing adequately.

The MD told me that he was going to order a "barium swallow study", but instead ordered a Upper GI and esphogram. Before we realized that the wrong study had been ordered they had allready done a "prep" xray of Landons abdomen.

I figured that since we soon after figured out that it was not ordered, that maybe they would just delete the image that they took. But...I got a call from the MD telling me that on the original image it showed that Landon had a KIDNEY STONE. Rare in children.

So onto the next step of multiple consults with specialists and with the MD to figure out what to do.

The good thing is that Landon does not seem bothered by the stone...yet. Poor baby.

****Update: False diagnosis. No stones after all. An expensive mistake.

FEELING * PREPARED

The * equals...somewhat, getting there, close but yet so far. I feel that we will survive if calamity strikes. I have the "preparedness" bug and have spent a few months and thousands of dollars on getting prepared. I feel that the prophets have been warning use for YEARS and I always intended to...but now I am.

There are a few coworkers at work that are nonmembers but I call them my "doom and gloom" committee. They are reading the signs of the times and are feeling the need to be prepared. They do not even have a prophet to guide them and they are feeling it.

I have to admit that I fear, more than I have faith. My mother-in-law tells me that it is more important to prepare spiritually...which I am severely lacking. My Aunt- who I love more than anyone in the world- told me that she became anxious and feared for the future but then she realized that angels will be there to lift us up if we are faithful. They were both speaking of course about the importance of being prepared at the same time...not strikly realing of faith.

My house has so much food I do not have anywhere to live. Shane is enjoying his handgun. And I am finally beginning to focus on the nontemporal areas in my life.

BRENNAS CAKE

I had a blast making the brothers tractor cakes for their birthday so I decided to make Brenna a fun one. I gave her a choice of 3 cakes and she chose the most elaborate. It took me all day and...is not flawless by any means, but...was fun. The whole time I was making it Brenna sat on the counter and just said, "Wow, mommy" over and over again.

BRENNA IS THREE

She is a sweetheart...but if you tell her she will say, "No I am Brenna" The day she turned three something reclicked and now she is independent again. She wants to do it all herself.

She is sweet and motherly to her brothers except she knows that she is bigger than them and can take what she wants if they have it.

She loves to sleep in her tent in her sleeping bag, blankie, water, and mamas old pillow (which she took). She still ends up in our bed before the night is out.

She gives me kisses on my cheek or tries to hold my hand if she wants my attention when I am on the computer.

She by mid morning she ends up with a dress over the outfit she has on. For her birthday this year we went down the "pink isle" for the first time. We got her a princess dress with all the accessories. She LOVED it. She plays with action figures and plays hard with boys but is very girlie when the time comes.

She loves movies and watches one a day. Except last week when all the kids had the flu. We had a movie-thon for 5 days straight.

She calls daddy "shane" and sometimes mommy "Clarissa"

She does not eat dinner very well. We are working on that.

TOILET PAPER

My twins are FASCINATED with toilet paper. They run for it whenever the bathroom is open. We no longer keep it on the wall roller. We realized quickly that a roll of toilet paper can unravel before we can get to the brothers to stop them. We just keep the roll on the counter...and if we can remember...out of arms reach.

FIRST FLIGHT

We knew it was going to be bad, but we did not appreciate added curve balls. Our flight to AZ was scheduled to depart at 7:00pm. So we knew that with 2 lap babies and one 2 year old, we needed to be there early. We also had three carseats, 2 suitcases, 3 bags to carry to the desk. Yes, this was packing light.

We got to the airport at 4:30pm, got through security and sat down about 5:45pm. It was a sight to watch us travel to the front desk. We needed 2 extra pairs of hands...at least. We got a bite to eat, then we found a cute little play area for the kids. Shortly after Shane decided to recheck on our flight status. The horrible news was that our flight was DELAYED until 10:00PM!!!

5 hours in the airport feels like 10 with 3 kids. Thank goodness for the play area with lots of toys and NICK jr to keep us company. We gave the boys a dose of benadryl (shhh), while eating dinner, before we found out that our flight was delayed. Turns out that it did not touch them. I used a small dose out of fear of how it would react. Before that flight we gave them another dose. Neither doses worked. The babies were wide awake the whole plane ride.

We knew that people would not appreciate sitting next to us on the plane, so we strategically picked a row near the back. It wasnt until right before take off that the stewartess told us that there could not be 5 people in one row, because there were only 4 o2 masks per row. That meant that 2 rows of people would be effected but our children. I was not happy.

We spent most of the trip in the back of the plane standing with the stewartess'. They were AMAZING. We arrived in AZ at 2:00am. Landon fell asleep as we touched down. But we still had to carry EVERYTHING to get our rental car. It was a shuttle away. It was not until 3:45am, that we were all settled in our beds.

On the way back, our flight was ontime and we had my mom to help carry children through the airport. But on the flight, Brenna was a tornado full of energy. We druged the boys pretty heavilly. But they cried whenever we sat down. The stewartess' were not happy to share their space with us. Landon was eating a granola bar and was SERIOUSLY choking as we were taking off. He threw up all over himself, me and Brenna. The guy in the row with Brenna, Landon and I, was not friendly and did not like that he was sitting next to us. But the couple next to Shane played and colored with Brenna while Shane and I stood in the back of the plane.

Thank you to the man that carried a carseat to the security desk when my hands were full. Thank you to the woman who played and colored with Brenna while we were waiting to board in AZ to OR. Thank you for the girl on the plane to AZ sitting next to me, who I overheard had anxiety problems when flying, who took out her phone and made it into a fish tank for Landon to look at when he was upset. Thank you to "uncle Chuck" as he came to call himself, who smelled like beer, but helped on our plane ride to OR. Thank you to the nice couple that played and colored with Brenna on the way back to AZ. Thank you to Benadryl. THANK HEAVENLY FATHER for the instant answers to prayers when petitioned.

FOOD STORAGE

For about a year I have been terrified that I need a food storage. I guess it all began when Shane was going to flight school, I was the breadwinner, and I was put on bedrest suddenly. We were instantly POOR. Somehow I was previously inspired to pay out our mortgage 6 months in advance, so we did survive with minimal help. But I realized that in just a few weeks our cupboards were BARE. It was shocking how fast it happened. Since then we have a 3-6month supply of the foods that we eat all the time, taking up the majority of my closet. I feel semi-content that we will survive if something else surprises us unexpectedly...but what if it is worse then just a lost job.

I know that anxiety and fear is not of the spirit but I am working on my faith in this area. In the meantime we are bulking up on longterm food storage. I spent 1600.00 on what I felt was edible essentials, but I have so far to go. The majority was Freeze dried meats, beacause I am not a canner and am not sure whow else to store meat.

Then Wendy Dewitt, a professional food storager, came to our stake and got my extended family gung ho. She is on Youtube and a genius. My mother-in-law got a can vaccum sealer, wheat grinder, and other essentials and we are doing it!

NAPS

In order to SURVIVE, naps have been strict and and fixed. My children have cooperated for the most part...until now.

Brenna: We try to take a nap when the brothers go down and then I wake up a half an hour later realizing that Brenna is still playing. Then she gets grumpy in the evening. So I try later naps where sometimes she still just lays there and plays. She is not quite to the no nap stage but the transition is a learning experience.

The brothers: They used to go down for naps easy and quick. Now they still take 2 naps a day...but they play together over the side rails for at least an hour. I cant complain. They do not cry...they just play.

Me: Sometimes I am able to nap when the boys nap and Brenna plays. But most of the time she brings me a book or a game every 5 minutes. I count my blessings when I do get a little shut eye...but it is rare.