Wisdom Teeth Removal

About 6 weeks ago I finally had my wisdom teeth removed. I was diagnosis to need them removed when I was still in high school but never had the opportunity to do so. Many years, and much tooth pain, later I have finally removed those problems from my mouth.

Since this was my 5th surgery in the last 8 years, it didn't seem like a big deal, and it turned out to not be. The hardest part was battling low blood sugar from the time I got up until I went in for surgery at noon. I was in and out of surgery in under an hour and my husband took me home to spend the next few days in bed eating soft foods.

So now there is more room and less pain in my mouth. Hooray!

Our New Addition

No, we are not having a baby. After a lot of badgering and relenting on mom's part, we got a dog. I have been looking at humane listings for a few months and trying to decide what kind of dog would be best for our family and that I could handle taking care of. I thought I found one last week, but the shelter wanted $195 for it and that was not quite within our budget.

Today, while I was browsing the free adds on Craigslist, I saw a posting for a free dog. I'm not much of a chihuahua fan, but this little lady is such a cute chihuahua mix that I felt like I had to call on her. She is 3 years old, timid, potty trained, quiet, and non-destructive. All of those wonderful things I get to miss out on if we were to get a puppy (Thank heavens!). She has been really good with the kids and exploring her new territory. We are excited to have this new addition in our home, and look forward to this adventure.

New Year's Resolutions

After a month of sickness and trying to clean up from busy holidays, and about a million other excuses, I am ready to start some New Year's resolutions. Honestly, resolutions are the farthest thing from my mind around Christmas and New Year's. I am usually focused on taking care of my family, trying to celebrate the real reason for the season, and put meaning into the things I do. Now that a large portion of my house is finally reorganized, my first new year project, I feel like I can move onto others things.

My goals, or resolutions, in no particular order:

• Figure out a way to lose weight. I've tried counting calories and exercising for hours every day, with the only result being a weight gain. I'm going to try to stress less about it and make exercise a part of my routine instead of a chore and obligation.
• Clean one room a day completely. With 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a kitchen, family room, basement/laundry, and living room/office, I figure every room in my house will get cleaned at least twice a month and less germs will live at my house because of only clean part of several rooms once in a while. And, if I get more than one room cleaned it will feel like a major accomplishment.
• Sew and donate at least 100 bears to the local hospital or fire station, or both. I have most of the first hundred cut out and ready to be sewed. We will see if I only make it to 100 or if I am able to do more.
• Finish setting up and starting a business. I have a name and blog, I'm working on posting pictures, setting prices, and setting up an etsy shop.
• Get Benjamin registered for morning Kindergarten and survive sending him to school in the fall.
• Take a real family vacation and go somewhere exciting. Thanks to my friend, Raegan, that will probably happen in April.
• Figure out some way to combine 2 spring birthdays without minimizing the importance of each child and breaking the bank on birthday parties.
• Potty train Bekah. What more can I say there. Every mom out there understands and knows the challenges of potty training even with the most cooperative child. My child is not the most cooperative, we'll leave it at that.
• Have my wisdom teeth pulled. I'm not a fan of pudding, but I'm less a fan of pain and I am ready to get these 4 pains out of my mouth permanently.
• And my annual one that just doesn't seem to leave, finish last year's unfinished projects before coming up with too many more.

Now that I have them in writing maybe I will find more determination to complete them. We will see what this year brings us.

P.S. I will post Christmas pictures when I can extract them from my husband and his camera.

Poor, Neglected Blog

I've taken up spending more time on facebook than on my blog, and crocheting, and holding my children, and trying to figure out why my in-laws ignore everything I say and then accuse me of horrible things to my husband, not to my face. I haven't felt like opening up anout much and i haven't had a lot going on beyond day to day stuff. Someday I will go back to posting regularly, but alas, today is not that day.

Polar Express to Temple Square Lights

During the Christmas Season we like to go see the lights at Temple Square. This year we decided to do things a little differently and avoid the downtown traffic. We parked at one of the Trax stations farther south and road the "train" down to downtown with some of our friends. Once there we enjoyed the lights and nativity scenes in the mild cold. Halfway through we took a break and drank some hot cocoa before riding the elevator to the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building to get a bird's eye view of the lights. When we were done we road the Trax train back to where we had parked the car. So in a way we had our own Polar Express train ride complete with hot cocoa and friends.

I can't tell if they are checking out the nativity or the water fountain more. The children sure had a fascination with the water that night.

Playing in the water.

Trying to take pictures of all 10 kids was an interesting challenge.

Benjamin, Bekah (behind Breckynn), Breckynn, & Cambrie

Aspyn, Cyndi, Sammy, & Asiah

Not pictured, but present: Mylee, Kelly, Alyson, Alyssa, Tony, Michael, Charlynn & Tim (who met us downtown where he works)

Car Accident for Christmas

On the way home from picking up a last Christmas present, Michael collided with another car two turns away from our house. The gal in front of him hit the brakes for no apparent reason and put herself into a spin. The road was so slick that Michael could not stop even though he was a ways away and collided with her. The result, the front passenger side of our car is pretty much demolished, but Michael is okay.

The upside is that no one was hurt and that it happend about 15 yards before the irrigation ditch which was a major blessing. We also have comprehensive insurance which we aren't sure of the details yet. And it looks like we may be getting a new car for Christmas, which is okay since the other one is mostly paid off. Good times!

Cute Earmuff Headbands

A friend of mine asked if I could make her some of these cute Earmuff Headbands. A great way to keep warm in the winter! No more messing up your hair to stay warm when you go outside, and you have a cute hair accessory. I am now making them for anyone who wants them in a color of their choice. The details are below.

Price: $10 per headband

Color: You choose and you can even choose one color for the flower and another for the headband.

Size: Thick (pictured above) & Thin (as pictured above, except about 1 to 2 inches more narrow)

Shipping: $6 for 1 to 3 headbands, $12 for 4 to 10 headbands

Time frame: 3 to 5 days after payment is received.

Payment: Check or Money Order, email me at sweetsapphiredragon@yahoo.com for my address.

I really enjoy making these headbands and they turned out so cute that once I finish my current orders I am going to make myself some more. I also make scarves and beanies for anyone who is interested in those items, also custom colors and styles.

Hiking with Grandma

Grandma took the grandkids on a nature hike on the hill behind her house. The kids had quite the adventure!

Playing Girly Games

Aunt Mary had fun playing the finger nail game with her niece and nephew. Bekah felt very pretty with her "long" fingernails after the game was over. Unfortunately for Benjamin, we now have blackmail pictures of him wearing pink and purple fingernails, but since them seem to double as tiger claws we'll let him get away with it.

Shooting

The field in front of my parents' house is good for lots of things. Another thing that it was used for over the Thanksgiving holiday was a shooting range. Dad took David, Denise, Mary, Gary, Michael, Benjamin, and Bekah out in the field to shoot empty milk jugs and clay pigeons. Benjamin and Bekah had fun standing in the back of the truck and watching all of the big people do the shooting. Benjamin even got in on the action by pulling the string to fling the clay pigeons for the marksmen.

Faster, Daddy, Faster

Our kiddos are just like their Daddy when it comes to thrills, faster is better, which is good because then Michael will have someone to ride roller coasters when they get bigger. Needless to say, they loved riding the four wheeler with their Dad around the field in front of my parents' house.

Grandpa and the "Grand-puppy"

My sister, Kristina, has wanted a dog for a very long time. Just before school started this year she finally acquired one. Even though my dad won't admit it, I think he loves the dog as much as my sister does. So here is Grandpa with his "Grand-puppy," Panda.

Repelling out by the Lake

David, Denise, and Michael went repelling out by the lake while Kristina helped supervise and Gary played photographer.

The Michael "dot" descending.

David part way down. Can you see the green dot?

Now who's the alpha male?

Or are they just a couple of monkeys?

Hiking up

Hiking

Reading the "writing on the wall." Apparently you are no longer allowed to add your signature to the ones already on the wall, Michael asked.

Smelling the trees. Kristina claims they smell like strawberries.

David said they smelled like trees.

Picking on little sister. I guess you never "grow out" of some things.

According to Facebook, David is declaring that he is the alpha male.

I told him Benjamin would probably argue the point with him.

Denise getting a different perspective from David's shoulders.

old Native American ruins

The stairs they climbed to the top of the monument.

In this picture, you can see Gary's favorite pohtography subject, his wife.

Posing for the camera . . . . on the edge of the cliff.

Michael taking pictures.

Mary, Gary, David, Denise (David's girlfriend), Michael, and Kristina went hiking at a local monument and Gary took all of these awesome pictures.