light at the end of the tunnel

Tonight at dinner, Nick was asked to say the prayer. I love it when little kids pray, because they are so innocent and sweet! Nick said he was thankful for this day, and for the food (which was french toast) and he asked that it would nourish and "healthen" our bodies. And then, he asked that he would be nicer to me, and to Sam, and to his parents. My heart melted.

image via

Welcome Home Taylors!

I hope you had fun in Yellowstone! I missed you!

Rough Days

This week has been a rough one with Nick. He's at the ripe old age of 5, and he is trying to see how far he can push the boundaries. Yesterday, he really wanted chicken nuggets for breakfast. He threw a fit when I told him he had to have some cereal first! He had to spend some time in his parents room, because he wasn't listening. He also had a really hard time cleaning up the toy room yesterday, and he had to get a spanking (not from me) because he wasn't cleaning. Today, he told me he would pour his kool-aid in the sink. I told him not to do it over the grapes that we were getting ready for dinner. So what did he do? You guessed it. Good thing he's such a cutie!

Sam went to his first day of summer school today. So we dropped him off, and we had to wait forever before going in. And then we had some miscommunition, and so Sam was stuck at school for an extra 20 minutes.

After summer school was over, we ran errands today, and went to Michael's to get Nick some cool new treasures (which was a necklace pendant), and Sam got a whole pack of googly eyes! Their mom also got some cool little felt dinosaurs and sea creatures, and place mats. So we made those! I'll post some pictures later. Because I'm tired, and didn't take any pictures of them today.

When we were at Michael's checking out, the cashier called Nick by his name. She asked him if he remembered her, and they all looked so confused. I had no idea what was going on. She was Hilly's (their old nanny) friend. So that was fun for them.

And then we went to Smith's to get a few things for dinner. (Chicken Parmesan...yum!) Sam got some fun sea animals in a container with an octopus lid, and Nick got some Milky Way "Space Treasure" marbles that he ended up getting taken away, because he decided to put them in his mouth.

Nick is really cute, and I hope that the rest of this week is a little better, and that he can adjust to a new nanny a little bit better than how it's been the past couple of days...

Sidenote: Today, I realized how hard it is to raise kids. It makes me wonder if I will be able to do it. Props to Jeane for doing it with no fingers or legs.

Today was tough. Good thing it's Tuesday which means...The Bachelorette is on Hulu, and new free downloads on iTunes! And now...I'm going to go to bed so I'm well rested for tomorrow. Summer school, cleaning ladies, and our first batch of sugar cookies!

What Happened Friday

So, I didn't post anything all weekend, because I went and stayed with my grandma this weekend. We ran errands (errands = 3 lovely hours at walmarts* + planting new flowers). It was a tiresome couple of days, but it was lovely.

On Friday, Jeane had been asked to speak up at SUU (shoutout t-brids! (: ), so Tony helped her get ready, and they left. Before leaving, Tony asked me to read her talk to see how long it would take. I read it, and was bawling! She talked about everything she had to go through, and how much she learned, and now treasures the Atonement of Jesus Christ. She also said she was very lucky, because she only lost her fingers, and part of her legs. She also said that the whole time she was going thru this, she kept thinking about how much she wanted to be able to hug her boys, and how now, she can. She really is such a hero.

Jeane left her wallet, and told me we could go out to lunch and to the park or somewhere else fun. I asked Sam and Nick what they wanted to do, and they told me they wanted to go swimming again. So we cleaned up their toy room, made their bed (they share because the latter to the bunk bed is broken), and put on their swimsuits and life jackets.

Those boys love to swim!! I think we swam for 3 hours, before Sam's goggles broke, and I insisted that we eat lunch. They decided Artic Circle sounded yummy, so we went there. We ran back to their house first, and grabbed some shirts, a water bottle, and another pair of goggles. Then we went thru the drive thru. I asked them what they wanted to do after, and they told me they really really really wanted to go swimming again. So we did! We probably spent at least 5 hours in the pool on Friday!

Sam was trying to learn how to dive, and scraped his toes. So we had to get a band-aid. Next time we go swimming, I'm going to try to teach them how to swim!







*That's what my grandma calls it. She's cute.

Today, was a busy day

Filled with:

• Folding and putting away clothes.
• Making breakfast and lunch. After the boys ate candy.
• Spongebob Squarepants.
• Washing dishes.
• Reading.
• Swimming at my grandma's house.
• Eating cookies.
• Ordering pizza.
• Playing with action figures.
• Getting paid.
• Eating pizza.

I am soo tired! I can't even begin to imagine how exhausting it is to be a mother and have to do this day in and day out.

Here's the cute family:

Also....
read this article.
And this one.
And this one.

Jeane had an ovarian syst over the holidays in 2008. They took her to the doctor's, and they said to go home and enjoy the holidays. In the next 4 days, they went to the emergency room 5 times. The doctors said she was coming in for more pain medicine, but everytime they left, they gave her more. Finally, Tony freaked out. Had he not, the doctor's said she would have died that night.

The syst had grown, so much that it blocked blood flow to her ovary, until it died. Since it was dead, it started releasing toxins into her body. And the medicine that she took to get the toxins out, causes most other patients to lose all their limbs. She was lucky in that, she only lost her legs below her knees, and her fingers.

I feel so blessed to have gotten this job, and I already love their boys! She does so much, even though she's so limited. She is truly....a hero.

June 2nd: Cleaning ladies, library, and super glue!

Today, the cleaning ladies came. I read, and they yelled at each other in spanish. And then, we went to the Library.

I drove their big truck! It was huge! I'm used to little, cute, Camry's. Not big trucks. But we made it there safe.

Nick really wanted some books about pirates, but then he found some cool ones about sea shells. So he got 3 about sea shells, and then he got one about jellyfish, and...something else. Sam got 3 about scorpions, and one about giant squids, and another animal one.

Another highlight from the day, was Nick was gluing his grand jewels together for his mom with super glue. And twice, he got some on his fingers. He broke down! He said he didn't like it when they were sticky, so we washed our hands, and then he got some in between his pointer and middle finger. Good things nanny's are compassionate...the poor boy wouldn't know what to do!