The Cow Took Your Binky

Weird post title, I know, let me explain.... we went camping this last thursday up by Tony Grove. Tony Grove is up Logan Canyon, and not too far from Bear Lake. For some reason, there are cows roaming all over The Cache National Forrest. They belong to someone because they are tagged, but it just seems like a weird place for them. At our campsite, there was a log fence just a few yards behind our tent and the cows would just graze through the trees. The girls loved it and they didn't stink, so no big deal.

Well sleeping in a tent with Reese kind of bugged because she sucks on her binky ALL NIGHT. All night long..... suck, suck, suck. We nicknamed her Maggie Simpson. On the drive home, she fell alseep without her binky so I asked DJ if we should just take it away and tell her that we left it camping. We decided to do it, so when she woke up I told her that we left it behind. I wasn't sure if she understood what I was telling her, so I finally just told her that the cows took it. I was dreading putting her to bed that night, but when the time came she just kept saying, "Cows, bink gone." She went to bed without a peep. Nap time today, no complaints. Bed time tonight, no complaints. I am completely shocked, and I think that I can say that the binky is officially gone... Yay!! I know it's pathetic that she's about to turn 2 and still had one, but I have been a pushover/slacker mom. Now if Reese ends up hating cows, we'll know why. She does love steak and hamburger, maybe when she finds out where they come from, she will love them even more.

More on our trip...

We went and got Aggie ice cream at the USU creamery... yummy! Reese didn't want what we all had and kept saying that she wanted the yellow ice cream, so we went back and got her a lemon custard shake. She was as happy as can be eating a huge shake by herself. That was our lunch.


We took the girls swimming at Bear Lake and had a blast. When we were getting ready to leave, I stripped Reese down to get her dressed and she took off to the lake, completely naked. That girl can run FAST!!!
We were up there with my parents but their dog wasn't allowed on the beach, so we ditched them to go swim. Ginny had the idea to dress the dog in clothes so that we could sneak him there. Good idea Ginny!

We then went up to the caves by Bear Lake. It was so much fun! None of them had been in a cave before, including DJ, so it was a new adventure for them. There are 444 stairs leading into the caves, then you have to take them back out. Ginny was a little slow at times, but they did great. The guide warned DJ to duck in some areas so that he wouldn't scrape Reese's head. They were fine on the way into the caves, but coming out I heard a scraping noise and looked up in time to see Reese scraping her head along the cave. It was so sad. She had little bits of rock and mineral deposits in her hair, but luckily just a little scrape. They told us that if we touched the rock, it would die and stop growing. I guess Reese broke the rules. When we got all the way into the cave, they turned out the lights. It was pretty freaky! It was so dark that you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face. They told us that if you stayed in there for 2 weeks, you would first go blind, then you would go crazy. Luckily we only saw 2 bats in there. During the winter they estimate that there are over 10,000 that hibernate in there... scary!

We had a great trip and can't wait to go back. Next time DJ will be sure to duck I'm sure.

Fastforward 2 Weeks...

Yah, I'm not sure what all of the crying was about... Kindergarten rocks!!

I'm now trying to figure out a way to get Ginny enrolled in morning kindy-garten as well, maybe try a different school. Would anyone even know?

That would be sweet!

I wish that I could say that my house is now spotless and that my 10 million sewing projects are done, but they're not. In fact, instead of cleaning my disgusting showers today, I went and bought 3 more projects to sew.

Speaking of projects, Reese LOVES blankets, especially the minky ones.

She has a few already, but there was one that I never got around to sewing before she was born.

I came across the fabric in the basement the other day, and brought it upstairs. I figured that

I could make it for my friend who just had a baby. Reese had other plans... she took one look at that fabric and immediately smothered her face in it. She then spread it out on the floor, layed down and watched a whole episode of Sesame Street on it (which is rare for her).

She has since been sleeping with this big peice of fabric for the past week.

Well today she napped early, so when the other kiddos were at school, Reese and I hit the fabric store. She spotted the big bolts of minky behind the counter right away, and ran back to hug the fabric and smear her face all over it. Good thing her nose wasn't snotty. It cracks me up that she can spot that kind of fabric right away... I love that kid!

Reese is either my best friend, or a huge pain in the butt.

I guess that she takes after her name sake, my little brother... hahaha!

I wonder if Reese could pass for a 5 year old. Maybe I could just tell the school that she's delayed a bit, and enroll her in kindergarten as well. They have special needs classes at our school, she could even ride the short bus.

Does anyone know how to make fake birth certificates?

Drowning My Tears In A Coke

This is my little Ginny, 3 years ago, sending Tay off to first grade. She followed her sister all the way up to the doors and was sad when she couldn't go in.

Now here she is today, super excited for her first day in Kindergarten.
I can't say that I was happy... I bawled like a baby all the way to the school.

Of course Reese had to get in on the action and wear a backpack too.
Had she not needed a nap so badly, she probably would have put up a fight when I didn't let her follow Ginny into the school.

This is Ginny with her neighbor and friend, Tyler. They enjoyed the playground until the whistle blew for school to start.

Before the teacher took them in, she taught them how to do the "I Love You" sign in sign language. Ginny didn't quite get it down... she's just holding up an arthritic claw.

That girl never stops making me laugh!

And off they went. They wanted to make sure that I got a picture of their backpacks. I love the fact that Ginny does not mind hand me downs. Taylor used that backpack from kindergarten through half of 3rd grade. Lucky for me, it still looks practically brand new.

And Last, the PTA had a "Kleenex Party" for all of the kindergarten mom's. Reese quickly forgot about Ginny as soon as she saw the mini muffins and juice.

So that was my crappy afternoon. It is almost 2 in the afternoon, my 2 older kids are at school, Reese is napping, and I'm sitting here at the computer crying. I should be cleaning my bathrooms or mopping my kitchen, but I'm too sad right now.

I cry every year on the first day of school, but for some reason today has been especially hard. Maybe it's because I went through so much crap to get Ginny here, I don't know. All I know is that I only have one kid left at home and I'm not ready for Ginny to grow up.

Oh well, Homeschooling her would do more harm than good, so I guess that I have to get used to sending her off every day.

Boooooo! (maybe more like Boo-Hoo)!

Aaawwww, Nuts!

I love Ginny! There is never a dull moment with this kid.

Last week she was playing catch with her Dad. At one point the ball hit her in the head, to which she replied, "Oh man, you got me in the nuts!". After DJ finally stopped laughing, he vaguely explained what "nuts" are.

Well, yesterday she asked me if boys can ride bikes. I told her that they could. After a moment of thinking, she asked me how they could sit on the seat. I had an idea where this conversation was going, but I asked her what she meant anyway. She wanted to know how the heck they could sit, without sitting on their "nuts". I told her that they just do, so she said, "Oh, do they just kind of hang there and rest on the seat?"

Yup, that's about right kid!!

Besides her recent obsession with nuts, she is bound and determined to see a baby be born. When she found out that the neighbor was going to the hospital to deliver her baby, she asked if she could go and watch. I told her no, so she went on to say that she was really good friends with Kim, so she should be invited to watch. Again, I told her that she wasn't invited. Well, the next day she asked me if I was going to have another baby. When I told her no, she asked, "Don't you want to have a boy?" I told her no. "Don't you want to have another girl?" No again. This prompted a 10 minute discussion on how it's not fair that she is 5 yrs old and has never seen a baby be born. Fast forward the next day... "Hey Mom, I'll bet Aunt Cassie will let me watch her have a baby."

I don't think that will happen, but if anyone wants to invite Ginny to join them in the delivery room, just give her call. That would really make her day!

Also, Ginny had her Kindergarten evaluation yesterday. After it was done, I asked the teacher how she did. Her response was, "She did Okay." She then went on to say that all kids are born with so many different gifts that get unwrapped at different stages.

I've tried teaching her, she just doesn't care. We call her the party girl. When I tried to teach her to count past 30, she informed me that counting is only good for playing Hide and Go Seek, and that you don't need to count higher than 30.

Atleast she's got her charm!

Our Trip To The Oregon Coast

The view from our balcony



4 of the 7 girls

Reese wouldn't take these glasses off... I thought that I was going to have to buy them.

Am I crazy? Probably.

Last week my younger sister Laurel and I , loaded our 4 girls and an extra niece into a van and drove up to Oregon. Our older sister Natalie moved up to Salem 5 years ago for her husband's law school, and is there to stay. I hadn't been up to see her yet, so off we went. We were able to stay at the beach for a couple of nights, and crashed at Nat's place for the rest of the week. I had to post a million separate posts to highlight the trip, so keep on reading... there's lots!

Between the 3 sisters, we have 7 daughters and 0 boys. Laurel is currently prego with a boy, but that doesn't count. My poor bro in law Neal was a great sport and kept us all laughing. It takes a true man to deal with 10 girls for a full week. I'm sure that people thought that we were stylish polygamists. We even considered doing the traditional Poly hairstyles.

Here are a few things I learned:

1. My niece Addy can sing "Old McDonald" over 20 times a day...EVERYDAY!
2. A bad enough migraine can make me almost pass out in Walmart and barf in my sisters toilet. (I will never be able to eat popcorn shrimp or chicken from Walmart's deli again)
3. My niece Abby, who turned 1 while we were there, almost makes me want another baby (Almost).
4. Addie likes to wake up at 6 every morning. Not so fun when you and your 1 yr old are sharing a room with her. Good morning sunshine!
5. Waking up to a 2 yr old rubbing your boob is kind of weird. I guess she likes them.
6. Ginny will do anything for a laugh! See Laurel's blog here //http://brianlaurelking.blogspot.com/2009/07/highlight-of-trip.html for an explanation.
7. Having 3 nieces live out of state makes me miss out on alot... they are all so hilarious!
8. Going on vacation for a week, with all 3 kids and no husband makes me need a vacation... from the kids!
9. I missed DJ a TON!!
10. DJ doesn't know how to work the washer... he was wearing his old ratty underwear when I got home. Atleast he was wearing some, right?

What an amazing week we had! Thanks Nat and Neal for putting up with us for a week! I can't wait to go back.

Tilamook Cheese And Ice Cream

The Crazy Dairy Farmer


The Cute Farmer

Laurel the farmer and Addie the Cow... she's even got the Moo thing down

Ginny and Tay

Neal, Kate, Abby, and Sarah

You can't go to the Oregon coast without stopping by the Tilamook Cheese Factory, or Cheese Land, as Addie liked to call it. They have 38 different flavors of the yummiest ice cream. I couldn't choose just one, so I got 3 different flavors... Sooey!!

We got to see them make cheese, which is always pretty cool . We then had to stock up on cheese curds for the rest of the trip... Yummy!

Strawberry Shortcake For Breakfast

Dang this is good!

Hands off kid, this is mine!

Who WOULDN'T like to have a ginormous bowl of berry shortcake for breakfast?

We went to EZ Orchards first thing in the morning and payed a visit to their shortcake stand. It was so darn yummy! They give you a huge shortcake biscuit cut in half, with a ton of yummy vanilla ice cream, a bunch of mixed berries, and whipped cream on top. That's my kind of breakfast! I will definitely pay a visit to EZ Orchards next time I visit Oregon.