Hmmm...I'll go ahead and mark this as a post that won't be printed off for the family journal at the end of the year. It's more of a small-scale vent.
First, let me say that I love my children. I need them like I need air. They color my whole world in better, brighter hues. I would be a sad, sad girl without them.
So now that that's out of the way...
I'm totally sick of my kids today. They're wonderful and funny, but they're also destructive and self-centered. I know that is how kids are, but some days it's hard to cope with! Take sleep, for instance. I don't get any. Yeah, I know. I have a baby, blah, blah, blah. But she's almost 8 months old! Does she need to get up twice a night? No. Does she anyway? Yes. She has been the hardest to sleep train. And the trickiest! She'll do really well for a few nights in a row. Just long enough to make me think she's changed her ways. I'm so happy that I share the news with friends. Me at the pool yesterday: "Hey Michelle and Shari, guess what? Sophie has been sleeping straight through until 4 AM lately!" Michelle and Shari: "Hooray! That's awesome." Me at 1 AM when Sophie woke up to spite me: "Dang it!" Me at 5:45 when Sophie woke up AGAIN (and this time for good): "DANG IT!"
So as if Sophie's not bad enough MILES has joined in the mix. It's like some big sleep-deprivation study that they're all working on. It's called, "Let's see how much sleep we can take away from mommy before her head explodes." Miles decided last week that naps really aren't for him. He'd much rather stay awake ALL DAY. And while he's at it, why bother sleeping at night, either! Rest and recuperation are SO over-rated. This kid has turned bed-time into some sort of extreme sport. It starts with night prayers where he's jumping all over the bed and climbing on every possible surface of the bunk bed. We pry him off and put him into bed, sing a few songs and leave the room. Before we've even made it out of the hallway he's behind us asking us to lay down with him. We say, "No Miles. It's bedtime," and then put him back in his bed and leave. Again, the kid materializes out of nowhere and is in front of us asking us to lay down. How did he get out of bed so fast? It's like that movie Jumper. Or maybe it's more like Star Trek and he's got one of those tele-port things. I don't know, but it's slightly eerie. Anyway, this charade goes on for at least 30 minutes. We try to be good parents and not get upset. He's only testing our boundaries, right? We follow all of Super-Nanny's greatest tips. We don't talk to him and don't let him have fun. We just pick him up and take him right back to bed and leave. The whole thing is exhausting, honestly.
But if he stayed asleep it would be worth it. But no. He's started having nightmares (I know, not his fault) so around 10:30 or 11 we hear him start crying and have to go in and calm him down. That's pretty easy. But at some point in the middle of the night he ends up in our bed! WHAT? By that time I'm so annoyed and tired that I just don't care and he ends up spending the remainder of the night with us. This happens at least 3 times a week. Grrrr....
So yeah. I'm tired. REALLY, REALLY tired. And to top it off Sophie has decided that she only needs short naps. I think she just gets woken up by the non-napping Miles and then can't fall asleep. But really, can't I just catch a break? Just on this one thing? How am I really supposed to be getting anything done?!!???!?!?!?!?!
Oh, and did I mention it's over 100 degrees today? Heat always makes me feel lovely:) Nothing so beautiful as a sweaty upper-lip and pitt stains at the end of the day. "Welcome home, honey. Give me a hug."

This is what Miles and Cameron are doing as I type. I froze one car, one dinosaur, one Batman and one Power Ranger in ice last week and they are trying to free them. They have two straws (for blowing hot air (which, consequently, they're full of)), a spray bottle, two plastic knives, a plastic hammer and a toy mallet. They've been hard at work for the last 20 minutes and it's looking like it will be awhile yet. So if you need a good way to get the kids outside for a half hour to 45 minutes, try this! They're having a blast!



So, uh, we got a little bored yesterday. I had boxes of Sophie's clothes all over her room getting them sorted and labeled to put in the closet/attic (she's gone through at least 6 boxes of clothes in her short 7.5 months on earth!) and I came across this little ducky costume I bought after Halloween last year. I found it at the Children's Place outlet for $2.99! Halloween can't come soon enough! She's hi-freakin'-larious in this outfit! The boys had to take a turn as well.

White babes and gang signs. G-g-g-gang signs.
I knew you were thinking that, too, Jeni.

Welcome to the dog days of summer, people! Yes, it's hot here. Triple digit temperatures are never fun. But we're finding ways to keep cool and beat the heat. We're big fans of our local library (not sure if they're fans of us, though). We head over there to pick up the latest Spiderman and Batman books and a video or two. We've also become pool moochers. I don't like taking the kids to the community pool because it's always so crowded and it's hard to keep an eye on all 3 at the same time. So I've been mooching off of friend's pools - either in their backyard or in their HOA. If you have an HOA pool that I haven't used yet, don't be surprised if you get a call from me asking if I can borrow the key! Miles and Cameron have become quite the little fishies and Sophie loves to splash just as much.
Today I decided to take a cue from my old BYU friend, Jessica, and do more projects with the kids. This morning I put a couple items in some water and stuck them in the freezer. Once they're frozen the kids will get to try using different tools to get them out of the ice (ie. hack at it with a spoon, spray it with water, use a blow dryer - all under my supervision, of course). That should be pretty successful. Also in the line-up is making a volcano, making ice cream in plastic bags, making disappearing ink, painting pictures and making frames for them, and lots and lots of science experiments! This morning we did paper mache.
In other news (BIG news!), I am the proud aunt of yet another beautiful nephew. Jeni did her own little science experiment last Saturday night and by Sunday morning Stephen Tony Rawlins had joined the world. I won't recount her labor and delivery because doing so makes me jealous. Let's just say it's pretty much the opposite of every labor and delivery I've ever had. But who cares, really? Stephen is gorgeous and I seriously want to just sit around and smell him all day. He's got that new baby smell. Yum.
Lastly, on Tuesday Miles got his front tooth pulled. It was a horrific experience so I'll spare you the details. We still love our dentist, but Miles just knows how to put up a fight. He did have a couple really funny moments (Pre-Novocaine) where he was sitting with the laughing gas over his nose and his tongue was numb from the topical anesthetic they put on his gums. He kept blowing raspberries over and over and over. He must have done it thirty times. Anyway, the kid looks like a hillbilly - I'll be the first to admit it. But he's still adorable. It would take a lot to make him un-adorable!
So that's us in a nutshell. Hope you're all surviving this hot, hot summer!

We are always trying to get good pictures of the kiddos. It rarely turns out, but I thought we got a couple good ones, here.

This picture is out of order. But Brian wanted to see how big HE was compared to Sophie...hmm...
I left Sophie sitting next to her open drawer for a minute (we had been deciding what to wear that day) and I came back to find her doing this. Taking clothes out and throwing them on the floor - which is a favorite game of her older brothers as well! A clothes horse already. Yay!

Okay, so here is Sophie at 7 1/2 months with new cousin Stephen. He's gonna have to work hard to get those legs plumped up!
New mommy again. Of course Jeni looks fabulous after giving birth! Of course.
This is a shot of Natalie and Stephen's first meeting. Natalie wasn't so impressed at first but it didn't take long. She was just really interested in the free saltines.
Paper Mache!
Miles the hillbilly.

BREAKING DAWN NEWS!
For those considering pre-ordering Breaking Dawn I would highly suggest doing so on walmart.com I just got mine and it was under $11 and free shipping! It doesn't guarantee that it will be at your door on August 2, but does say that it will be there on the day or "shortly after." I can handle that to save from paying full price at B&N on August 2 (not to mention having to go to the store and stand in line...).
Can't wait to get my Breaking Dawn on.

So last night Kathleen, Tori and I threw a kickin' shower for Jeni. At least, I think it turned out well. Good food, and good times. I forgot my camera so you'll have to wait until I get pics from Tori. Anyway, at the shower I noticed my friend Kelly had the BEST shade of lipstick on. And it got me thinking. I have never, ever found a good shade of lipstick. In fact, lipstick has always been a bit of a mystery to me. My best friend in highschool, Amanda, was a lipstick expert. The girl had 80 different shades that all looked fabulous on her and she was never seen with naked lips. The minute she stopped eating she'd be applying a new coat...without a mirror! But me? The ugly sidekick. I'd be glumly pulling out my black Chapstick and tightening the plaid shirt tied around my waist. Sigh...Every shade I've ever tried has just made my lips look really silly. The only time I was able to wear lipstick without looking lame was for that brief moment in the '90's when matte brown lips were cool. I was able to pull that off...sort of.
So, am I the only one out there? Is this just another sign of my Ugly Mom-ness? How do I remedy this bare-lip situation?

I should be napping right now but I'm feeling quite bloggy...
I've been meaning to start a blog book club of some sort. I'll get to that one day, I'm sure.
For now, here's what I've been reading as of late:
Shannon Hale: I'm sorry to say that I hated Goose Girl and couldn't get through it. It's not really my favorite genre, even though I really liked Princess Academy. I'm sorry. I did go ahead and read Austenland and LOVED it. My favorite thing, though? The dedication page, which reads: "To Colin Firth. You're a really great guy, but I'm a happily married woman. Let's just be friends." This lady gets me. A Book of 1000 Days is still on my request list at the library.
Anne Tyler: I read "Back When We Were Grownups" on the car ride to Utah and loved it. She's an excellent storyteller and the book drew me in pretty quickly. It was a little anti-climactic because I kept waiting for the main character to do something specific, but it never turned out. Oh, well. still a good book. I started to read "Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant" while in Colorado, but couldn't take it with me and it wasn't on the shelf at the library so it'll have to wait. It looked promising, though. I've got "Breathing Lessons" in my lap and ready to crack open the minute I finish this blog.
Khaled Hosseini: A Thousand Splendid Suns. I just finished this one a couple days ago and it left me breathless. I was glad to have Austenland to follow it up with because the subject of "suns" is a little heavy. But the author writes so fluidly and uses just enough detail to paint the scene, but not so much that you're overwhelmed and have to put the book down. It's a very fine line, I think, and I was impressed with how he walked right up to it but never seemed to cross it. I haven't read "Kite Runner" because I was a bit afraid of how I'd handle the subject matter (same with "Suns"), but now that I've read "Suns" I think I'll be able to handle Kite Runner.
So on my to read list is:
Kite Runner
Breathing Lessons
These is My Words
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
1776 (which I've started before and want to buckle down and read)
Atlas Shrugged
The Fountainhead
(the last two are basically being forced upon me by my husband who claims they've changed his life...But I'm up for anything).
Peace Like a River (which is Michelle's and I've had it sitting on my nightstand since January and I can't bring myself to read it because it's in PRISTINE condition and I don't want to be the one to crack the binding...Michelle, how do your books look so great after you're done reading them???)
And last - BUT NOT LEAST! - is Breaking Dawn. Be still my soul. I can't wait for that book to come out.
If you have any suggestions of books to add to my list, please feel free!

So the boys had their semi-annual dentist appointment yesterday and we got some bad news. No cavities, but Miles has to have his left front tooth pulled a week from today. Because he's a thumb-sucker his front teeth protrude a bit. Pretty much from the moment Miles got his left front tooth he has bumped or knocked it once a week or more. Seriously, every time he trips I look down and his tooth is bleeding. So we've known for awhile that it was pretty much dead and had started to discolor a little bit. Well, the thing has developed into an abscess and now the tooth has gotta go. I'm not looking forward to the process. Anyone who has had a couple shots of Novocaine knows it's not fun and I don't think Miles is going to take it very well. I made Chase take a half day off so he can be there with us because there's no way I could do it by myself! I just feel so bad for the poor kid!

I saw this "tag" game on one of my BYU friends and thought it sounded like fun.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

WE'RE BACK! And I'm still recovering...But who cares! You're all waiting for pictures and lovely stories of our beautiful, relaxing vacation, right?!
Thursday, June 26: And we're off! The day starts early...actually, no. The day started the night before with me frantically packing. I had everything pretty much ready to go in the car top carrier when we discovered that the car top carrier (which we bought for the Kilgore family reunion last year when we had the CR-V) isn't compatible with our van. Fan-freakin-tastic. Of course it isn't! Let's start this vacation off right! So anyway, the morning of the 26th we managed to get everything inside the van itself and we go pick up Garrett. G-Rawl (or Gare-bear, or Gibbett) is Chase's youngest brother and he accompanied us on our little journey so we could spend some time with him before his mission. And because we just like him a lot.
Anyway, we get him and hit the road. We were trying to make it to Buena Vista, CO that day and things were looking pretty good. Until....POP! There goes a tire. We pull over and search the car for the spare and jack. We were in Dalhart, TX, so we were pretty dang hot and buggy. After locating the tire and jack the boys realized that our car is fancy. SO fancy, in fact, that there is a special KEY required to take off the lug nuts on our wheel. HUH? Who is their right mind wants mini-van rims? I mean, they're nice and all...but seriously?
So anyway, at this point we realize we're kinda screwed (literally?) and we call for a tow. A state trooper had pulled over to help us and he called his cute, pregnant wife to come pick us up and take us to the repair shop back in town. SO NICE! Two hours and $200 later we're back on the road. The rest of the trip was uneventful until we GOT to Buena Vista and realized we had no idea where we were going. We (we meaning NOT ME (meaning Chase)) had arranged to stay at a friend's cabin in the mountains. We (meaning NOT ME (meaning Chase)) were POSITIVE we knew EXACTLY how to get there. It was going to be SO EASY, in fact, that we (meaning NOT ME (meaning Chase)) didn't even need to get a street address or house number! So imagine our (but not mine) surprise when we were driving around some remote mountainside in the pitch black of night that you can only find on a remote mountainside, completely unable to find the house we were staying at! Shocking, I know. And to make matters even awesome-er we had no cell phone reception! No address, no cell phone. So we spent a good bit of time just driving random roads, looking for something, but we weren't sure what. FINALLY we found a tiny little spot of road that gave us some bars (can you hear me now?) and we placed a couple frenzied calls to the owner of said cabin and she gave us some more direction. But still not a house number. So we drove around some more. This time in the right location, but without a house number we didn't want to go trying our key in everyone's locks. So back down the mountain we went looking for more bars (can you hear me now?). Again, we found a little patch of reception and made a call. This time we got a house number! HOORAY! We were in! By the time we arrived it was 11 pm and we were tired and road-weary. We piled into the house, put the kids down for bed and fell asleep.
Friday, June 27, 2008:
I'm not mad anymore because I wake up to this.


This is the view from the porch swing on the back patio. Oh, bliss. This was worth the hours driving around lost. Oh yes, this will do JUST fine, thank you. I eat my breakfast while staring at this. Sigh...
The rest of the day was spent PLAYING! Just hanging out, and loving life. I took a run. It was a short run because, while I can run a pretty good distance in Dallas, I'm not so great at running uphill at 9500 feet.
Miles found these lovely Napoleon Dynamite moon boots and had to try them on. We put them aside quickly to make sure they were safe. Otherwise Miles would have worn them the whole time we were there!
That afternoon we went fishing at the lake down the road. Chase was determined to make me some fresh trout for dinner, but it didn't happen. :(
The view across the lake.
Saturday, June 28: It was time for a little exploring and hiking! We found a great hike up to Agnes Vaille Falls. It was a 1/2 mile in and 1/2 mile out. The kids did great and I was so proud of them. It was pretty difficult in some spots because of the rough terrain but they were troopers! Sophie was totally content on my back sporting this super awesome (and totally UV-proof) hat. I think she pulls it off, don't you?


G-Rawl: We love this kid. He was especially handy on the way down the mountain. Pretty sure he saved a life or two.
If you look closely you can see Chase (to the right of the man in denim shorts) taking a dip in the falls. It was ICE cold water and he came out with a killer headache.
Sunday, June 29:
We found a branch nearby and attend. I'm reminded how thankful I am for the gospel and the church in general. I'm also reminded that I love loud, boisterous choristers who sing off-key and wear those cowboy-tie things that aren't really ties. I'm also reminded that I love being at church sans calling(s)...We head back to the cabin and have the most restful day of rest I can remember.
Monday, June 30: We're off and headed for Utah! We make it to Layton, hit the Cafe Rio for some burritos and head to my SIL Kathleen's house. Her mom made a deeeeeee-licious dinner and we stayed up late playing Nerts and talking.
Tuesday, July 1: Happy Canada Day! We leave Layton and head "over the hill" to Logan, UT for the Johnsen family reunion. This is Chase's mom's siblings and we do this every two years. The first activity was to visit a local print shop in town and view an exact replica of the press used to print the Book of Mormon. The owner, an elderly gentleman by the name of Keith Watkins, has a whole garage dedicated to old-fashioned presses and he was SO fascinating! Maybe it's the journalist in me, but I could have listened to that guy ALL DAY. So I was pretty psyched when I got to try my hand at some printing!




Wednesday, July 2: The guys played golf early and after lunch we headed for Tony Grove - a camping area up Logan Canyon. Surprise, surprise, there was snow! Yay! Commence snowball fight!
Tony Grove also boasts this amazing lake! Someone brought a raft and took the kids out. My kids and their cousin Natalie all decided that they'd rather jump into the lake fully clothed and get soaking wet and freezing. The air was pretty cool up there.
Tony Grove - GORGEOUS!

After the dutch oven dinner we had cupcakes for Cousin Landon's 8th birthday. Miles particularly enjoyed his.
Thursday, July 3: I actually can't remember everything we did this day. Is that weird? I didn't take pictures, so it can't be that amazing. Or was it? All I know is that I spent a good part of this day in the hotel with my cranky, crabby, sleepy kids. Oh, right. THAT'S what I did on this day...I did manage to get back to the homestead for dinner and a road rally. The road rally was pretty fun but it took us about 2 hours to do. How long did it take everyone else? 30 minutes. Apparently it was "easy" to do if you actually live in Logan. The night ended with fireworks over at Utah State (which we did not attend thanks to the aforementioned crabby kids).

Friday, July 4: Happy Independence Day! The day started with MORE golf. And they golfed for, like, 12 hours or something. Seriously! By the time they got back me and Tori (we were watching the kids who were even crabbier and crankier) had had our share of child-watching and ditched them with the guys so we could go get some Cafe Rio! We had girl-talk, did some window shopping, and decompressed. It was nice. After naps we swam at the hotel before dinner with the family. Chase and Cameron stayed LATE that night to do firecrackers in the backyard.

Saturday, July 5: Landon's baptism (congrats Landon!) and then we were on our way. No one was happy to be back in the car. We made it back to Buena Vista late that night.
Sunday, July 6: Instead of visiting our old friends at the BV branch we decided enough was enough and got back in the car to make the final drive home. The drive down the mountain was very curvaceous and it wasn't long before Cameron puked EVERYWHERE! Great. Lovely. So we pulled over to the side (when we could, which wasn't immediately, thanks to those mountain roads with no shoulders), got him out, stripped him, cleaned him and his car seat as best as we could, which included me pulling off the car seat skins and buckles and putting them into plastic bags (which then BAKED in the back window of the van for the next 12 hours - that made for some great laundry when we got home!). Then we were all back in the van and on the road again. The next 10 hours of the trip included LOTS of crying, screaming, whining, threatening, silent fuming, and deep breathing. Let's just say that I'm pretty sure Garrett will never be having children. This trip was, perhaps, the most effective birth control ever created.
BUT, we're home. Thank goodness we're home.
Lastly, I just have to add a super funny moment from our trip. On Wednesday while we were on our way to Tony Grove we passed the Logan Temple. We slowed down a little bit and talked to Cameron about it. We're always talking about temples and what we do there. Anyway, we said, "That's where your Nana and Grandpa got married!" To which Cameron replied, "Yeah, I'm going to get married there someday!" And we (including Eric and Kathleen who were with us) said something along the lines of "Oh yeah, are you going to marry a cute girl someday?" To which Cam, looking very sly, replied, "Yeah, like maybe Kathleen." This conversation affirmed that Kathleen had Cameron at Hello. He's been in love with her since the moment they met.