4 103 degrees

Nothing in this world stirs deeper emotions than seeing your child suffering. The motherhood dragon that usually slumbers within me awoke red eyed as Allie called out to me in the wee hours of this morning. I don't think I'll ever get used to witnessing the terrible effects of fever: limp, listless, glazed eyes, fire hot to the touch. Instantly I was filled with overwhelming feelings of panic and protection. I tried to calm her tears her, even though I was scared too. How did my Mother comfort me? A cool rag on the forehead, sweet melody in the ear, and lightly stroke stray hair from the face. I must have done it right as Allie drifted back to sleep in her makeshift bedroll to the side of my bed. Too bad the cool water and Tylenol came right back up only minutes later. It was a long night. Brave Allie called out to me each time she needed me and let me know just what was coming. What a trooper! Nothing like a long night of praying over your child to wash away all the built up dust from the daily grind of caring for young children.

Today Allie rode the fever roller coaster. She threw up every dose of Tylenol, but the ibuprofen stayed down and was effective; though sometimes a little too effective. When the fever would came down her energy would go up. I alternated between explaining that she couldn't ride her bike & rocking her limp, burning body to my off-tune lullaby's. After nap and again before bed the fever came back, accompanied with the glazed eyes and tears.

Now comes the eternal debate: if/when to take her to the doctor? The OTC meds are keeping her fever in check and most likely she is battling the same fierce virus that I just defeated. If it is a virus, I'm doing all there is to be done. BUT the mother in me worries that it is bacterial or worse. How do I know? I guess for now we will see what tomorrow brings.

3 Sunday afternoon

Now that Kylie has decided to WALK, she has also determined she is all grown up. She obviously knows what she wants now, although she is less than effective at communicating her wishes. Instead of words, she uses the shrillest screech and points her index finger in arching waves. By trial and error, we've discovered that she requires a spoon and cup at ever meal, but we still need a crystal ball for guessing what food she wants. Now that I don't have to wish for her to walk, I guess I'll wish she could TALK.

Wishing aside, she is an affectionate little soul. Member's of Nate's family have referred to the girls as 'scowlly Allie & smiley Kylie'. Allie, a.k.a. Business, has softened in her old age, but hugs and snuggles are usually products of exhaustion or illness. Kylie's soft frequent open mouth kisses on my cheek and soft pats to my face just melt my heart.

Today church was more of a challenge than usual. Right off the bat Allie fell asleep on Nate's lap, something she has NEVER done (even as an infant). Since he was pinned down, I spent better part of Sacrament meeting, and the entire 3 hour block, in the halls with Kylie. The pacifying just isn't effective when she takes it out and chucks it across the room. I am greatful I now know that this is as bad as it gets and even though it doesn't feel like it today, it will get better in the not so distant future. Only 4 1/2 months till Kylie goes to NURSERY!

Church was followed by naps for all. What a wonderful afternoon! We each took a different room and snoozed away. Allie woke moaning that her tummy hurt and as I took her Sunday dress off she made good on her claim that her 'throw-ups are coming'. I, being a good mother, held out my hands to save the carpet. After a few hours of cuddles, "rock's", and TLC her fever came down and she was sneaking to Lou's house to play while I changed Kylie's diaper. Instead of sharing the bug, we hug out in the backyard and enjoyed some Popsicles in the 95 degree heat. I think that whatever was ailing her is over because about a half hour after putting her to bed, she snuck out the house, fully dressed, to ride her bike with Lou.

My roses are in full bloom and fill the entire yard with the sweetest scent. I'll cut some for the table in the morning. Stop and smell the roses.

I'm finally kicking this awful virus. It feels so refreshing to be able to swallow without pain for the first time in weeks. Poor Nate is feeling the pain now. I hope that he doesn't get it full force!

2 Am I a host?

Yesterday started out as one of 'those' days. You know the kind when your patience is gone before you get out of bed. The stage was set the night before; we hadn't gotten home from Nate's two softball games (both wins) till 10:30pm . Both girls were ready for naps about a half hour after walking up at 7am. Act one: whining & bawling, fingernails on the chalkboard to me and by 11am I was covering my ears. Act two: Allie threw a tantrum, wet her pants, & woke up napping Kylie, all while my neighbor Teresa was inviting us to go to the pool. Act three: I was stunned when my mouth told her we would go. Glutton for punishment? or Alien invasion?

Kylie hung on my legs as I rounded up the damp suits and mismatch towels. I tried to tune out the fussing so I could recall when I became host to the alien being that had agreed to such a ill advised outing. As I couldn't come up with any such memory I threw some leftovers odds-&-ends in a bag for lunch. Why purchase anything, the girls don't eat at the pool anyway. I was still trying to figure out how my mouth had been possessed as I strapped the girls in the car. I pulled out of the driveway and rolled down my window to coordinate the doomed retreat with Teresa. She reassured me she would come, but not for at least a half hour. Since we were in the car, we kept on going. Best get it over with quickly.

When both girls fell asleep at noon on the way into town I just about went back home. That darn alien kept my hands from turning us around. I though the final straw had dropped in the pool restroom where Allie wet her pants AGAIN before I could get her in a swimsuit & Kylie had a present for me in her diaper even though I didn't have any wipes. WHY was I doing this to myself? Why had we come? This was STUPID! Strangers were diverting their eyes as I was in the process of morphing into 'mean mom' when I heard Teresa call out "Sarah?" The sound of my voice snapped me out of it. Oh, yeah. We were here to have fun. Thanks alien!

I was amazed at the transformation when we finally hit the water. My tired, cranky girls brighten right up. They grinned and giggled, splished and splashed. They were having such a great time we ended up staying for over 3 hours, the longest time they've ever been in a pool! And they ate all their lunches when we got out for pool check! Miracle for sure!!!


On the way home we stopped for ice cream. We even got to take one to Nate, who happened to be working in Logan at the time. I think this last picture say it all.

"Good time had by all"

0 SHE'S WALKING!!!

I was starting to wonder if Kylie was ever going to discover how to use her legs, but TODAY was the day! She wanted to walk the entire time we were at the pool and when we came home she just kept on going. The lighting isn't great in these clips, but you get the idea (the camcorder did a better job, but I'm not sure how to upload that). Tonight she is walking more that crawling. So, just like that my baby is now a toddler!

1 Another backyard pool party

I'm loving letting the kids play in the little pool in the evening after it starts to cool off. I took these shots last night, but we will probably do the same thing in a few hours. Thanks Ray for being the only kids to actually look at the camera.

Kylie even got to hold her own popcicle. Maybe red wasn't the best color as it stained her hand, face, and legs...after she decided it was okay. Hey, that's what summer is about, right?

0 The Host

I absolutely LOVED the Twilight saga & can't wait for the fourth book to come out (as if you couldn't tell by the countdown to the right), but I didn't really want to read Stephanie Meyer's other book, 'the Host' that came out last month. I know that Twilight is about vampires and werewolves, but come on...a love triangle between aliens in human bodies. So, I must have looked really non-appreciative when my neighbor Hayley showed up on my door to lend it to me last week. Sorry Hayley - THANK YOU!

At first I really debated even reading it, but you know me...BINGE READER / BOOK ADDICT. I opened it Friday night and finished it Saturday night at 2am, all 618 pages. I must say I was plesantly surprised. I really did enjoy it. I don't know why I hesitated.

I am picking up that Stephanie loves happy endings, which is good to know considering where 'Eclipse' left off. Also, I really like how she takes something she could say in 5 lines and stretches it out to 5 pages; that's the addict talking.

Anyway, if you are on the fence about this book, give it a shot. Everyone I've talked to who loved Twilight felt the same resistance about this new book, but we all agree it was a good read.

0 A day out & a new toy

Last Saturday I got to take the Pressure Cooker class at Kitchen Kneads with my sister-in-law, Maho. We both had recently purchased a pressure cooker with out Christmas gift certificates from our wonderful Mother-in-Law, JoAnne. I love my kids, but it sure was fun to have a few hours to myself. I learned bunches and can't wait to start playing. Most of the dishes they prepared in the class are a bit to adventurous for my family, but I picked up a lot of helpful hints.
I did come home with a pair of new toys. The first is an trivet. Mine is flexible plastic good to up to 600 degrees in stylish orange. I used last night to steam fresh broccoli. Oh, my!!! By letting my water come to a boil BEFORE adding the veggies, using the LOW pressure setting & placing the broccoli ON TOP of the trivet, it was amazingly TENDER without being wet...in only 4 minutes. The best broccoli I have ever had, hands down. We ate it all up...EVERYONE! The other toy is a 7-inch spring pan to make cheese cake in the pressure cooker. I've got to get the ingredients, but I'll let you know how it goes. YUMMY!

2 I WON!!!

This is a cricut. I L-O-V-E my cricut. {actually I'm on my 2nd one - my first was replaced my customer service when it starting acting funny} If you haven't heard of it before, basically it works like a printer, but CUTS out shapes and letters to use in scrapbooking, card making, and other paper crafts. You have complete control in choosing the color/type of paper and size of the thing you want to cut. The cricut uses cartridges so you don't have to hook it up to a computer, although new software has just come out to do just that.

I made an animal alphabet book for Allie over a year ago (when I was pregnant with Kylie). I laminated the animals and used Velcro to attach them. Allie has loved the book and her favorite animals are starting to show it. The monkey's tail is taped on and the penguins are all over the house. We often take it to church, too.

I posted it on the message board way back then (14 months ago) and Julie suggested I submit it for the weekly "Chirp" newsletter's project spotlight. Actually this is how I 'met' Julie. After a few weeks of hearing nothing, I basically gave up on getting selected, but last week an email came saying just that. Blew my mind. I had forgotten all about it. The prize is a cartridge of my choice, so I picked 'Stretch your Imagination' and it came today!!!

2 Which is sicker...my camera or myself?

Camera: I've posted some of the mild funky pictures my camera has been taking, but I've deleted most of the wild ones...not to mention the plethora of plain pitch black ones. Tonight it worked fairly well, but that is the exception.

Me: I've been sick for nearly a week: soar throat, cough, runny nose, hot/cold flashes, low energy...a basic summer cold. I even lost my voice on Friday. I keep thinking that its got to be running its course (especially when my voice is getting stronger), but I think its actually getting even MORE painful to swallow. I really don't want to go to the doctor, just to be told to drink fluids and get more rest but this is dragging on WAY too long.


update: Last night was by far the worst my throat has been. I couldn't even swallow my own saliva the pain was so bad. It took me over 3 hours to get through one cough drop. At 3am I had Nate give me a blessing & I was finally able to get some sleep after a hot shower. Instead of going to the pumpkin farm to hoe this morning, I went back to sleep till the doctor's office opened. {big scare: when Kylie's stirrings did wake me at 9am, Allie was out riding her bike in the neighborhood, fully dressed. She is too self reliant for her own good.} The verdict: a virus! Ugh, I was so sure it was strep. Basically I was told to drink fluids, suck cough drops, and take advil - yeah, got that covered. The Dr did run a strep test, but he was sure it will be negative. What a waste of $100. I really miss our good insurance right about now. Oh, well. At least I know. Guess I'll 'buck up'.

2 Pumpkin Farm: 4th time around

Hard to believe, but this is our FOURTH year we've raised pumpkins to sell to the local grocery stores. This evening Nate used his tractor & 6-foot tiller implement to till between the ROWS. We will be heading back out @ 6am to hoe between the PLANTS by HAND. Wish us luck!

Nate & Allie are driving. Dirk is riding on the irrigation pump as they haul it from the shed to the field. I've always had a thing for this fabulous old tree.

Us girls drove out a bit later to "help". Allie got to help drive the tractors, but Kylie & I were mostly moral support.

Here's the field after Nate tilled between the rows. Allie is our lovely assistant modeling the tender little pumpkin sprouts. Those weeds look innocent enough, but don't forget the scale of the field.

Here is a picture of Grandpa Eldon's almost finished shop/shed, for you Uncle Troy.

1 Backyard pool party

This afternoon we broke out our new blow up pool. Allie has asked to set it up everyday since we bought it last month. As I expected, Kylie loved the water. She laughed, splashed, and climbed in-and-out. True to character, Allie ran face first through the sprinkler. She is a brave soul! Allie's buddy 'Lou' came to swim, too.

Allie "lay-out'ing"

Kylie doing everything BUT walking

Allie was so hard to catch: too fast

Just big enough

Allie was the only one brave enough to run THROUGH

3 buddies loving the sun

1 In case you were wondering...

Check out my links to the right! It now shows the last time someone posted. It's a new feature from Blogger that I discovered on Hayley's blog. Thanks Hayley & Tana!!! If you want to do it too, just go to 'layout' & click on 'add a page element'. You have to create a NEW list of blog links and then delete the old list, but I'm looking forward to saving time by not checking blogs that haven't been updated. Oh, but it won't show the times for a private blog for some reason. Bummer, but maybe they will do something about that.

1 Campfire @ Franklin Basin

Saturday evening we crashed another Sorsensen/Knight campout. This time they had their trailers up Franklin Basin and we just stayed for the evening. I'm very annoyed at my camera though. We had a fabulous photo op with everyone together, but it wouldn't cooperate. It tried its basic tricks {all black, half black, pink/purple, refuse to focus} and started doing something new: over-exposure. The poor lady we asked to take the pics felt bad that she couldn't get it to work, but it wasn't her fault. Oh well. A poor picture is better than no picture at all.
Which picture do you think is the 'best'?

Schwartz: Sarah--Kylie (1), Nate--Allie (3),
Knight: Brett & Britney--Kasa dog,
Sorensen: Dirk--Simon (2 mon), Rayden (3) & Lexi (5), Hanne

Kylie riding in style in Lexi's Barbie power wheels. She's still not walking, so she crawled around in the dirt and got filthy dirty.

Kylie was a big fan of the marshmallows. Uncooked, they weren't that messy. She was so pleased with herself, sitting in the big chair by herself.

Usually Brit is the master mallow cooker, but she had gotten too much sun earlier in the day. Her face was sensitive to the heat of the fire, so she passed the roasting responsibility to me.

Buddies Allie & Ray enjoying uncooked marshmallows,

3 A berry busy day

One of the best sounds in the world has to be the sound home canned jar lids make when they seal. It is so satisfying to be cleaning up after slaving in the hot kitchen for hours and then you hear the random 'pops'.
It looks good sitting on the counter in my now clean kitchen, but boy was it work.

Berry Prep:

• 1.5 hrs picking both berry patches
• 0.5 hrs triple washing berries in hand freezing water
• 1.0 hrs 'picking over berries' i.e. taking out the stems
• 0.5 hrs food processing berries
  

Double batch of Strawberry Jam: (1 hr)

• Start with largest pot I own
• Stir 2 boxes pectin into
  
• 10 cups food processor sliced berries
• Bring to a full, roiling boil
  
• Quickly stir in 14 cups sugar
• Bring back to roiling boil for 1 min
• Fill 14 pre-washed (pint & 1/2 pint) jars
• put on new, boiled flat & ring
• turn jars upside down for 20 min

Yes, you read right that makes about ONE CUP sugar PER jar of jam, and they were small jars, but boy is it GOOD!

Kitchen clean-up: (1 hr)

I left some of the sliced berries in a bowl in the fridge. It was divine on vanilla ice cream and we will have some with whipped topping on waffles in the morning. The rest of the berries went into two ziplock bags in the freezer to use later.

Oh, the voice is just hanging on my a thread, but I was able to get the lawn mowed.

1 Berries are ON

I picked my backyard strawberries when I came home from Rexburg Sunday, but we've been munching on them. So this morning I stepped out to find a few more berries to make a batch of jam. Oh my!!! After an hour I had two LARGE HEAPING bowls. I'm scared to look at the front beds. They get less sun, but they haven't been picked yet this summer. I will probably end up with 2 more bowls. I better get going. I'm may need to make 4 batches of jam now.I've come down with a cold (cough, runny nose, sore through, ect) and have just about lost my voice. I think its going into laryngitis. Good thing I gave my lecture at USU yesterday morning instead of today! I've been having hot and cold flashes, too. My poor muscles are shaking just from picking the back patch, so maybe I'll let Nate mow the lawn tonight. Sorry neighbors for the shaggy look.

While I was picking berries in the back Allie and Kylie were playing around in the yards. Kylie screamed and when I looked up she was covered in blood. I rushed to scoop her and and ran her in the house. Luckily it was just from her nose and the water & washrag were enough to stop her cries. A casualties of childhood.

Well, just finished the front bed and thankfully it is more like 2 weeks behind the back berries. THANK YOU SHADE! I only got 1 bowl today. There are plenty of little white ones though, so they will be heavy next week. Don't you love how the picture above is pink? My camera is working, but only just. Sometimes it is all black, sometimes half black, sometimes pink & purple, and sometimes its just fine. I never know.

The tomatoes are are coming along nicely. We have one regular tomato & several cherry tomatoes on our four little plants.

The flowers are loving the heat. My roses buds are just starting to open. A neighbor brought me starts of my favorites: daises. I was afraid they wouldn't make it since it was a little late in the spring, but they are in full bloom now, happy as can be!

3 Water logged

We spent a good share of the first part of this week in our swim wear. It feels so nice to finally have summer weather. It sure took its time coming this year!

• Monday:
  
• aquatic center with the Buttars
• Tuesday:
  
• wakeboard @ Newton noon-5pm
• ward pool party at the aquatic center in the evening
  

Allie is a water bug and loved playing in the shallows with her best bud Alyssa (Lou). Allie's favorite part of the pool is the 'mushroom', but as long as she is wet she is happy. It seems like she is UNDER the water almost as much as she is ABOVE it. Kylie loves the water just as much. In fact...NEWS FLASH!!! Kylie took her first steps in the pool. I don't think it real counts as 'first steps' but at least it gives us hope she will EVENTUALLY walk on her own.

Allie was perfect on the boat. It is so nice that she is getting old enough to have fun with us. We left Kylie at Grandma JoAnne's and I'm sure she had a better time there.

Since last summer, Allie has been telling us she wants to wakeboard with her Daddy the way our neighbor Lexi did with Dirk last summer. She was the one who brought it up on the lake, but later declined. Then, before Nate's last run of the day she piped up and asked if she could go, too.

As they were getting in the water she had a moment of panic, but once they were up she was all smiles and waves. She has been telling everyone who will listen that she went wakeboarding.