Connor's 1st Day of Pre-K

Connor did not want to her up this morning. I told him fine he didn't have to go to preschool, so he got up. He thought we were in a hurry so he ate a little breakfast and when I explained to him he had almost an hour before we had to leave he was willing to finish his breakfast. Then he asked what he could wear, I told him no pajama shorts and he was mad so he said fine, I'll just wear my underwear, I told him fine lets go. He decided to get dressed. He was pretty excited when I showed him all his school clothes in his drawer and was even more excited to find he and Tyler had the SAME shirt, so that's what he picked to wear today. He didn't understand why I made him take pictures this morning. He went to preschool last year so it wasn't his first day of preschool. I told him it was his first day of Big Kid Preschool. So he agreed to stand and smile.

On the way to school he said that he was glad preschool was starting so he could finish this year and go to Kindergarten next year. I'm glad he has school every day for him, but I think Bailey is going to be REALLY bored every morning all by herself. I on the other hand love that I can grocery shop with just 1 kid, or maybe get caught up on housework or homework while he's gone for 2 1/2 hours every morning.

RONNIE DUNN

So a few weeks ago I get a text from my friend asking if I like Ronnie Dunn. I knew I had heard of him as a country singer but honestly couldn't place his with any songs but said I did. She then said she had won tickets to his concert for that weekend and wondered if I wanted to go because her husband couldn't get off work that day. I said sure and we started making plans. The concert was in Jackpot, NV which neither one of us knew where it was except that it couldn't be too far because lots of our friends had been on day trips there. After a little research we found out where it was and I booked a hotel in Twin Falls, the closest city with open rooms. We left about 1 in the afternoon and drove straight to the concert. We got there and took a bit to find where it was and how to get to our seats. We were early so got to pick from lots of seats. We sat in the middle but had grandstand seating so kind of far back. Well not too long after the concert started Melissa said we should go to take pictures by him since lots of other people were by the stage and no one seemed to care.

We did and this is the view we ended up with. (Oh and it still took me a few songs to figure out he was part of the group Brooks and Dunn, but I did eventually.)

Did I mention it was 100 degrees out that day so we were DYING from the heat?

After the concert got out we went and played penny slots since I never had, and don't worry I only spend $5 and lost it all. We went to Twin Falls and ate and crashed for the night. The next morning we shopped and then headed home. It was her first girls weekend and a trip we may need to repeat. THANKS MELISSA FOR SHARING YOUR TICKETS!!!!

Party!!!

Brian's friend from ROTC and his wife invited us to a birthday party for him and 2 of his kids. They are the only other ROTC family with kids close to our age so we spend a lot of time with them. It was their daughter's 3rd birthday and son's 1st birthday. My kids obviously loved the cupcakes, Connor the most.

We gave the little girl some chalk because she LOVED ours when she was here a few weeks before. All the kids really got into it and this is what Ty looked like when he was done. I made him stand in the bathroom while I beat his pants on the sidewalk where they hadn't drawn. Connor was chalked up too but not this bad.

Coming home from New Mexico

On the way home from New Mexico we stopped at "Hole 'n the Rock" just outside of Moab, UT. We had my niece Taylor with us too, that's the extra kid in the picture. They had more cool stuff outside it than the last time I was there (which was like 3 1/2 years ago). There was this Mater and a super cool Jeep made out of license plates and the tires were made of tools.

Love the boys faces in this

on a turtle at Hole 'n the Rock

On the way home Tyler had been playing with Bailey and pretending to bite her foot, which she loves. Well he did it and she kicked and knocked out his other front tooth. ( He lost 1 while we were in New Mexico). He had actually asked me earlier that morning to pull it but I didn't think it was quite loose enough. We never did find the tooth. This is obviously not on the way home but in our front room the next morning.


We made it home about an hour before Tyler's 1st soccer game that night. My kids loved the Holiday Inn in Price, UT. They asked if we can always stay there. We ate dinner and breakfast there and the kids ate free so not too bad.

New Mexico

We went to New Mexico for one of my niece's baptisms. We left Friday when Brian got done with school at 3 and drove to Monticello, UT and stayed in the worst hotel I've EVER stayed in, which is saying something after a trip to Utah when the man in the room next to us tried to commit suicide and the cops were there for hours talking him out of his room with all my siblings and parents in the room next door to his. Needless to say we go in at Midnight, the baby screamed til 2 or 2:30 and we were gone from the hotel by 6:15. We made it to New Mexico by about 9, but Brian insisted on going to the Army surplus store when we were all just ready to be done but we made it to my brother's house about 10 am, in time to shower, get ready and go to lunch with everyone. I have no pictures of most of the events, like the baptism, but Sunday after church we got all girly. I painted all the toes you see in 4th of July theme (since it was the 4th of July weekend after all). Yeah took me a couple hours but got stars stripes or other red, white, and blue themes painted on them all. These are Bailey's toes, I didn't think she'd hold still so I did hers later,

after she grabbed the nail polish bag and

sat herself and it in my lap and put her toes in my face.

I'm afraid she's going to be much girlier than I ever was.

Now I warned you we went all girly.....

the kids thought it was fun to decorate daddy/uncle Brian

My dad and Brian left on the 4th of July to go home because they both had school Tuesday morning. My sister's best friend's parents (follow that) have a nice pool in their backyard and had invited all of us and a few other church friends over for a BBQ and swim. I got ZERO pictures of this also but my sister and her friend took a lot, so maybe eventually I'll get them too.

My kids had a BLAST and loved every second of swimming and eating and swimming and eating. My mom kept the baby at my brother's house until she woke up from her nap then she came too and LOVED it.

Soccer

Well I am finally starting to catch up from our crazy summer. And no these catch up posts will not be in order but hey there will be posts so that's what counts right?

When I told Tyler we were moving (in the spring) he asked if he could play soccer again this year so he could meet friends like he did after we moved last year. I of course said yes since secretly (OK maybe not too secretly) I want all my kids to love to play soccer like I did for 14 years. Well at one of the games Brian's mom was there and taking pictures and then Connor took the camera and started taking pictures of his own.

I just love the look on Connor's face here

And once again I am horrible at picture taking so the coach sent me these of the
end of season party they had since the last game of the season was canceled
(again, just like last year due to a thunder storm)





Not sure why the face, but it's all I have.

He did much better this year and got in and got aggressive, which is SO not like him. I was pretty proud. Of course the game he scored 3 goals in Daddy wasn't there for because it was during finals week, but Tyler scored more in other games that Daddy did get to see.

When we had treats Tyler said we could NOT bring Capri Suns because EVERYBODY else did so he wanted something different so we did Gatorade and airheads and he was SO proud of his snacks. Funny kid.

First day of 1st Grade

Well Tyler started 1st grade yesterday. He has been so excited for weeks to be able to ride the bus, eat lunch at school, and go to the new school.
I hid all the school clothes from them because the boys were both so excited about them. Tyler was up at 6:50 and ready to leave for school by 7:05. His bus is supposed to come at 7:55 so he had some time to wait. He sat by our front window waiting for his friends to come out (the bus stop is right in front of our house). Finally when the little girl he knows in his class (who went to the same school as him last year and was in his class there) pulled up he was ready to go outside (at 7:40). So we waited and talked and waited some more. The bus finally came at 8:10.

He was less than cooperative when I was trying to take theses pictures.....

I know you can't really see him in these 2 pictures but he is sitting next to this little girl (the only one he knows in his class.

I told him I could follow the bus to school and meet him there and take pictures and walk him to class. He looked HORRIFIED at the thought and said I could wait for him after school to take pictures of him getting off the bus but I COULD NOT follow the bus to school!!!! My camera is not the greatest and this is the only picture I got of him after school.

All he would tell us is lunch is good, recess was fun and his teacher seems nice. I know informative huh.

Vacation

Well we have been home from vacation for a week now and I think we are finally all well enough to say we enjoyed it. From these pictures you will see if I was a single parent my children's lives would remain fairly undocumented but luckily they have 2 photographer uncles that came on the vacation with us, I'm just not going to sort through the other 1000's of pictures they each took to find some of my kids right now. (Which means not all the events are even documented here since I missed 2 due to sick or grumpy kids.)

Brian wasn't able to go with us but everyone else in my family went on a week long trip to Rapid City, South Dakota. Which for some may sound boring but we had a blast because we lived there for 6 years and we had fun showing our families all the things we did when we were younger. We all arrived on Wednesday the 1st and just hung out and relaxed after all the super long car trips.

Thursday we went to Reptile Gardens. In case you were wondering there were..... My parents, My Brother Shawn his wife and 5 kids, my sister Shelleen her husband and their 6 kids, my brother Shad his 7 month pregnant wife, and their 4 kids, my sister Shannon her husband and 4 kids, me and my 3 kids and My little brother his wife and their little girl, that equals 11 adults and 23 kids ranging in age from 17-9months. Yeah it was quite a site to behold. But we had a lot of fun at Reptile gardens, petting snakes, crocodiles, alligators, giant tortoises. and seeing all kinds of birds, insects, amphibians, and reptiles. We all came home hot and tired but had so much fun.
Notice that those are not MY children but my nieces, nephews, and brother petting the crocodile, but yes my children did pet, I just have no picture proof.

This is the same one I have pictures with at Tyler's age

Funny Mirrors at Reptile Gardens

Friday we went to the Maze (most of us; not 2 babies, 1 grandma, and 1 pregnant aunt). There are 4 towers you have to find to get the 4 presidents stamped onto your card. I remember it seemed impossible as a kid and lets just say my sense of direction in the maze has not improved in the last 20 years. Connor really did have fun he just was mad I made him sit by his brother for some reason.

Saturday was a "free day" where there was nothing specific planned for the group so we got to do whatever we wanted. My brother Shawn, sister Shannon and my family decided to miniature gold at Pirate's Cove. My kids have never been miniature golfing for real so they were pretty excited. I didn't golf just ran back and forth between the potty and the 4 groups we had golfing to help kids gold and retrieve balls that went astray and other such motherly tasks. It was SUPER fun. We then took my parents and sister Shannon to meet my sister Shelleen at Cabelas. My parents and Shannon and fam had never been. I'm used to a slightly more impressive store but my family was still impressed and the highlight was watching them feed the fish live smaller fish and worms, I know cool huh. We then went to the mall and looked around mostly for memory sake.

Made it here in 1 shot.

When you turned in your putter you got

a bag of pirate themed loot, pretty cool I thought.

My kids were a little small for the stocks but thought it was cool none the less

Sunday we went to church and doubled the size of the primary who my sister's best friend happened to be in charge of so Shad and his wife got to sub for sunbeams and Shawn played the piano until the normal person arrived. After dinner that night we visited the grave sites of an adopted grandma and one of my parents foster babies that died of SIDS. It took FOREVER to find the headstone for the baby because grass had grown over it and it was VERY small to begin with. After about 20-30 minutes looking, and digging and removing the grass from around multiple headstones we found it and decided we need to get him a nicer headstone than the one the state paid for. It was also Bailey's birthday which we didn't do anything for because we had plans for later in the week which was good since when we got home from the cemetery she threw up like 8 times. Yeah not so fun. She was sick again the next morning so my mom decided to stay home with her while the rest of us went to Mt Rushmore.

We hadn't been there since they actually built tourist informative buildings so we had fun looking at all that had changed since we were there 17 years ago. We took what we thought would be a relatively easy stroller friendly hike, boy were we wrong. We got to carry the strollers, do about 300 stairs and keep 10-15 kids going where they were supposed to be going and allowed to be. And it was pretty hot that day so we were EXHAUSTED when we got home. I of course took no pictures of the Monument of my kids with anything that proves we were actually there, but before we left we got ice cream and I did take a picture of Connor eating that:)

Tuesday we went to Dinosaur Hill and reenacted some pictures from when we moved to SD 23 years ago. Some are a little less than flattering of me but oh well. Connor kept telling me his tummy hurt, which has become his mantra of late when he doesn't want to do whatever we're doing so I didn't think much of it but my niece skinned her knee so I did let him and her sit in the car til everyone else was done. We were headed to Storybook Island and Connor threw up all down the front of himself. So I dropped Ty off with my sister and took Connor and Bailey back to the lodge we were staying in so he could sleep and puke. Yeah super fun day for us. I did get a little break when he slept for real for a couple hours so I ran to get the rest of the stuff I needed for Bailey's party and show Tyler where I used to buy my candy when I was his age. I of course was in charge of dinner that night and we had so much leftover on other nights I made half of what I had planned to make and told everyone to bring all their leftovers they didn't want to take home. I did take lots of pictures of Bailey eating her cake but I'll do a separate post for that. Connor was feeling better by that night and I thought we were home free til Tyler started throwing up. Bailey threw up at 3 in the morning that night but after that no one threw up.

Dinosaur leg

this was about the only smile Connor gave us

All 23 current grandchildren on the tail of the T-Rex

All my sibling in order from youngest to oldest

Tuesday after dinner and before Tyler started puking we went down to see about renting paddle boats. We of course were too late to really do it but when the lady told my niece she was closing she burst out crying since we had told her since we got there we would do it one night and this was our last night. Well the lady said we could take them our for 10 minutes or so. Well I have a DEEP DEEP DEEP fear of water and Connor still couldn't get his arm wet so we just sat in a boat that was still anchored to the dock. But Tyler got on with my brother in law and thought it was super fun. Connor was pretty good natured about not being able to do as much as everyone else but still a little bummed.

Oh and we had just done our family picture so if you look close you can see everyone is in brown because we had matching shirts made that had a picture of Mount Rushmore and said

"KIDD FAMILY REUNION 2011" on the back

My niece rode there and back with me to help with the kids and keep me awake on the 12 hour trip. Which was good because I didn't sleep much for days before or any of the night we there since I was with my parents (who were sick or snoring or both) and my baby who was sick or not sleeping or both. But it was still a lot of fun and totally worth it.

My "Happy" Birthday

This is how my birthday (Tuesday) went: Woke up to a phone call from the relief society president in the new ward asking to come over and meet me, in 2 hours. Well I had to clean, do the dishes, and shower but somehow got it done before she came, oh maybe because she was 20 minutes late. Took Ty to school and got pizza to eat for lunch. Played Super Mario with the kids for a while. Picked Tyler up came home and Connor actually took a nap, which should have been a sign of things to come but I'm not too bright some times.

Finally got everyone ready and actually in the car for the planned trip to Idaho Falls. Connor screaming bloody murder the entire time. Asked what was wrong and all we got was more screams and him grabbing his belly. Which he has been doing about once a day for about a week. Well I spent 2 hours at urgent care, the Hospital for abdominal X-rays and back at urgent care with Connor. He has strep and needs a LOT more fiber. So I got to wait in line at Walgreen's for almost half an hour for his antibiotic to be filled and to buy some chewable fiber gummies and laxative that is "chocolate" flavored, aka spit all over when given to him.

After all the waiting he was feeling much better and wanted to go hang out with his super cool aunt that was going to watch him while Brian took me to dinner for my birthday so we decided to still go. We went to Famous Dave's for dinner, BBQ isn't usually my thing but they make really good pulled pork and cornbread muffins. We ordered an appetizer and I was too full to eat much of my dinner but it was really good.

We went to Barnes and Noble and bought 4 of the pigeon books(Don't let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, and our favorite, The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog), my kids are obsessed and our library hardly ever has any of them in. I also bought 5 books by my current favorite author so it cost way more than dinner but oh well, I tried to buy less and Brian said since it was my birthday I should just get them all.

And that's how I spent my birthday, sounds fun huh. But mostly it was actually a pretty fun day except it was way too cold for this time of year. I just want to wear capris and flip flops is that too much to ask at the end of April?

Well last night as I was making dinner at my sisters house and Connor starts screaming. Tyler came up to tell us Connor had bent his hand too far forward or too far back. Brian ran down to see and checked him out and since he could still move it figured it was sore but fine. Connor didn't stop crying so I got him some candy and we went to my sister's new house (they are moving this weekend) in an attempt to distract him he cried for most of the 30 minutes we were there. Well he really wanted to help but used his left hand very little. We went back to my sister's old house and ate dinner and wrapped his arm up because he said it was pretty sore. We spent the next 2 1/2 hours helping my sister and went home around 10. Gave him his antibiotic (for the strep we found on Tuesday, but that's another post) and some ibuprofen and sent him to bed with it still wrapped.
This morning it was still sore so I made an appointment with his favorite doctor. I dropped the other 2 kids off and I took him in. I unwrapped his arm in the waiting room and about 10 minutes later when the doctor looked at he noticed some swelling and said it was likely broken and he needed an X-ray. So we went to the radiology center here in town where a client of my dad's did the X-ray. Because she knew me she showed me the X-ray and told me it was fractured and would need a cast. The doctor had told us to take our time getting back because it takes a bit to get the X-rays sent over and read. Well I was supposed to make Tyler's teacher a teacher appreciation door decoration so we went to the craft store to use the dye cut machine and cut out what felt, to Connor, like 1 Million little Music notes for the "Mrs. Barton Rocks" door decoration. It ended up taking WAY longer than I had thought it would and Connor was SO done by the time we got out of there.
Well the doctor pulled up the X-ray and said that actually both bones were fractured and we DEFINITELY needed to cast it, which I had prepped Connor for and he was actually excited. Well as soon as they were ready to cast it Connor had to go to the bathroom so then they had more patients come in and it took another 15 minutes for the doctor and nurse to both be free. We made it out just in time to run Ty to school and then Connor.
Now that his cast is hard he is letting anyone who wants to sign it or decorate it. He doesn't seem in too much pain but he said his arm was really tired by the time we got home tonight so we put it up on pillows and watched a movie. Luckily it's his left hand so he can still semi function but seat belts, dressing, undressing, and potty trips are much more challenging. 2-3 weeks and we will get this cast off X-ray and then another 2-3 weeks in the next cast so when we get back from our week long family reunion trip to South Dakota, and hopefully before gymnastics and swim lessons start the next week.

Oh and how did it happen you may wonder, he said he was doing a dance move, "you know like how an airplane spins around," and he jumped to do it and fell and caught himself with just the 1 hand. At least it wasn't something actually naught but since it took me until we were going to get the X-ray to find out what happened you'd have thought it was something really against the rules. Oh well, I guess dance is more dangerous than I thought.

Accidents Happen

First know we are all fine. I have a few scrapes from glass and we are headed to the chiropractor this afternoon to get all checked and adjusted because being upside down does funky things to your back.

This is how we landedThe tow truck driver putting in the hooks to flip it onto its wheels again

The front after it was flipped back up

The side we rolled onto

My awesome dad was there to retrieve car seats and kids in his suit!!

I was headed to drop my kids off at mom's so I could go to work (around 11:30) when I saw drifted snow and started to slow down. I obviously didn't get slowed enough and hit the slush/slick and started fishtailing (I have no idea how to spell it or if it's even a word really). I knew I was out of control and told the boys to duck toward Bailey (in the middle) because we were going to wreck and I couldn't stop it. The passenger side rear end hit the barbwire fence and drug on it for a few feet til we hit a large enough pole or slope enough to flip onto our passenger side and then land on the roof. I tried to open my door and couldn't. The passenger side window was shattered and my phone and purse were laying in a pile of glass. I unbuckled and talked to the kids to be sure they were ok and called mom and dad. My dad headed right out and I called 911. As it was ringing a man came to check on us and helped us all get out and stop hanging upside down. He told me he had been one of the 1st on seen to a fatal accident the week before and was considering never leaving his house again but was very glad we were all ok. He helped get my purse and the diaper bad gathered and given to me. David Parker (from mom and dad's ward) and his kids were there and let the kids climb in his car to wait for dad to come. We were all out and safe by the time dad got there. He was soon followed by the police officer who again checked to be sure we were all ok and took my license and began working the scene. The firefighter/EMS arrived soon after to assure that we were ok and cared for the truck since I had never considered checking the engine just putting it in park, always a necessity on an upside down vehicle right? I then called Brian who was in Utah with the ROTC to let him know he needed to call ASAP it was important. After I finished filling out the accident paperwork Shelleen and Ken came and took the baby to mom and the boys to church with them. Brian called back and I told him I'd rolled the truck but we were all ok, I don't think that helped his feeling of being too far away but he texted a lot until he got home. We waited about 15 more minutes and the tow truck came but the police officer had another accident to go to so I filled out the towing paperwork and we went to moms. I cleaned up the few minor cuts I had and we left for a friends baby's blessing. It is now 7 and I just filed an online claim with USAA. We have GAP coverage on our loan so it should totally pay off the truck and give us 1000 toward a new vehicle (if it's totaled, which Brian is sure it is with the roof damage). But we are all a little sore and stiff and planning on chiropractor visits very soon. The boys were pretty scared but don't want to talk about it. Bailey just hates getting back in her carseat now. So now we wait for insurance information so we can buy a new car to go with our new house, couch, and bed.